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User: SpiralSpirit

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  1. Re:U.S. prison system is flawed on SCADA Vulnerabilities In Prisons Could Open Cell Doors · · Score: 1

    [1] Even so you could still keep two prisons, one more open and one more for those who have proven to be a persistent danger to society and really need to be kept away for safety reasons (but not completely isolated!) for a legally limited amount of time.

    we do. Thats why there are different security prisons. Less security, more open.

    And you didn't address anything else I've said. Your points are all wonderful but even within the united states there are huge variances in recidivism. Most of it is societal. You aren't going to override something that they've been learning all their lives with a wonderful prison atmosphere. They aren't your gang, and they know it.

  2. Re:U.S. prison system is flawed on SCADA Vulnerabilities In Prisons Could Open Cell Doors · · Score: 5, Informative

    Norway is an entirely different country with a far more homogeneous population and completely different social dynamics. At the prison you mention re-offend rates were 16%. At a normal Norwegian prison (not the cushy kind) re-offend rates were only 20% - 4% more. Recidivism varies per state in the US. Arizona is pretty close to norway with 24.6%. Nevada was at 29.2. California was at 70% and connecticut was at 56%. There are social issues involved. wikipedia says that in NYC, police arrest 200k black males every year, out of a total population of 1200k. 1/6th of that particular group gets arrested EVERY YEAR. You can't solve that problem by making jail more inviting, but you can't necessarily solve it by making jail worse. Thats why its a difficult dilemma - it isn't easy to solve.

  3. android market sale...? on Apple Increases Dominance of Mobile Shopping · · Score: 2

    this statistic seems unlikely.

  4. Re:Uh, oh... on China Now Top Patent Filer · · Score: 1

    genuine evil is hard to recognize, and the state of the media and propaganda today is totally different so that there will always be a counterpoint. In WW1 & 2 many people got their news from the radio and going to theaters. Nowadays most people have internet and can go to al-jazeera or whatever, assuming SOPA doesn't pass. Your genuine evil won't materialize till the economy is far past saving.

  5. Re:If Everything was "security"? on Penguin Yanking Kindle Books From Libraries · · Score: 2, Interesting

    people who can strip the DRM from the books can get the books elsewhere. Those who can't most likely won't.

  6. Re:Work Ethic - self motivation is the failure poi on Why Do So Many College Science Majors Drop Out? · · Score: 1

    its impossible for a school to teach self work ethic. only parents can do that, and they have to start earlier than high school. the weakening 'no one left behind' shit in high school certainly doesn't help.

  7. Re:Good luck with that whole 100,000 thing on Why Do So Many College Science Majors Drop Out? · · Score: 1

    go look at the people actually graduating for ed degrees. I hate to say this (my mom was a teacher, and a good one), but the great majority of them graduate from ed because they wouldn't hack it in most other faculties. ed standards have falled a lot. not to say that teaching is a highly paid cakewalk - it isn't, and its largely unrewarding, but the calibre of graduates are not great.

  8. Re:Does the job market have anything to do with it on Why Do So Many College Science Majors Drop Out? · · Score: 2

    the question is how employable are you right now? You need to be working EVERY SUMMER in either the field you're studying, or a closely related one. Then, when you go to get hired and are competing against the hundreds of people who graduated in your class, YOU'LL have work experience and they won't. The 4 months between semesters you do stuff on a job, even tedious, boring stuff, is very very important. go out and get a job.

  9. Re:Only the strong survive, as it should be on Why Do So Many College Science Majors Drop Out? · · Score: 1

    the 'weak student elimination' is only another set of test criteria, and like any system there will be people who figure out how to study to pass it, even if they themselves have no engineering judgement.

  10. Re:Pretty simple explanation... on Why Do So Many College Science Majors Drop Out? · · Score: 1

    you lucked out. architecture is probably one of the hardest hit industries due to economic troubles. very few people can afford it. There are literally hundreds of thousands of unemployed from the architecture-related umbrella that compete heavily for every job, and wages for jobs that are around are down across the board.

  11. Re:It is unquestionably a wiretap on Did Feds' Use of Fake Cell Tower Constitute a Search? · · Score: 1

    the issue isn't the data from the verizon tower - this is totally separate data from a fake cell tower that did not have a warrant.

  12. Re:Criminals were captured on Did Feds' Use of Fake Cell Tower Constitute a Search? · · Score: 1

    an anarchist doesn't necessarily believe in no punishment - just not legal systems of punishment. if you automatically knew who was innocent and guilty you could punish the guilty without a legal system.

  13. Re:Bogus study on Hardware Running Android Fails More Than iPhone, BlackBerry Hardware · · Score: 2

    you misunderstand 'certification'. The certification is more about whether the OS will work, not at all about the hardware and how often if fails. You don't even have to get your device certified - you only do so if you want to use the 'android' brand name. otherwise just take the source code and go for it. http://source.android.com/faqs.html#is-compatibility-mandatory

  14. Re:One of many causes of problem on Student Loans In America: the Next Big Credit Bubble · · Score: 1

    There are hundreds of thousands of students being taught at for profit universities, and they're also the fastest growing segment. Private non-profit schools aren't the same segment at all. to see how rampant for-profit universities overcharging, making empty promises and outright fraud, all you have to do is spend two minutes looking it up on google. There have been documentaries about it. The default rate is high because many have call centers whose goal is to sign you up for student loans no matter what, and often for worthless diplomas that cost much more than the same thing at a community college. Get a clue.

  15. Re:I can't decide... on Battlefield 3 Performance: 30+ Graphics Cards Tested · · Score: 2

    benchmark masturbation. some people like this sort of thing. Its a good thing too, because it keeps them in their basements, away from the rest of us.

  16. Re:Apple has that one right! on Android Orphans: a Sad History of Platform Abandonment · · Score: 1

    Apple would have a much easier time of it. They have a single line of phones, and lets say at any given time 3 supported models. Android is an open platform, and has been put onto dozens and dozens of different models of phones, so far. The sheer amount of resources, the testing time, etc for each handset is quite a bit. Its pretty unreasonable to put all the onus on google. Better would be that google standardize the requirements for phones to be officially 'google' phones, and include a minimum support period and a maximum time between android releases from google and handset manufacturers to release those updates to people.

  17. Re:Seriously?! on RIM PlayBook Email App Nowhere In Sight · · Score: 1

    the CEO and the board feel they can loot a fair bit more money in bonuses and severance pay before jumping ship and letting someone else try and loot money by disassembling the company a la HP.

  18. Re:Seems to me... on How Steve Jobs Solved the Innovator's Dilemma · · Score: 1

    HP is still screwing this up. They've tied Whitman's 'bonus' (ie her salary, since her official salary is only a dollar) to the stock price. She only gets paid if the stock price goes up 120%. Since stock price is market driven, and the market runs on fear, uncertainty, and the predictions of thousands of deranged analysts, it seems unlikely that she'd be motivated to look at long term company health when her income doesn't depend on that.

  19. Re:Prior art. on How Steve Jobs Solved the Innovator's Dilemma · · Score: 3, Interesting

    anyone whose played Civ can tell you this one:

    “There is one rule for the industrialist and that is: Make the best quality of goods possible at the lowest cost possible, paying the highest wages possible.”

    Henry Ford

    It seems somewhere between Ford and outsourcing everything we can to india and china, industrialists became looters.

  20. Re:Ye Gawds! on How Steve Jobs Solved the Innovator's Dilemma · · Score: 1

    I got a touchpad from the firesale too. Its a good product @ $150 for 32gb, but it wasn't and still isn't worth $500. The problem is that: a) The OS is great (really, I really enjoy webos) but there aren't enough apps and the web browser sucks. b) Competing @ apple's price point is ridiculous. If I wanted a top notch tablet @ that price I'd buy an ipad. What I want is something thats good (not necessarily ipad good), but whose price more closely reflects its utility. So it's not really as good as an ipad, and was pretty much just as expensive. Why would I choose it over the ipad if it wasn't being sold for significantly less money?

  21. Re:Sad commentary on the state of US companies on How Steve Jobs Solved the Innovator's Dilemma · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Indeed. Its funny when you see the difference between an engineer who became upper management, vs an MBA brought in from the pool of MBAs ready to leech off any company that will hire them. Its sadly similar in most marketing and human resources departments as well.

  22. Re:Apple solved the problem by moving to design on How Steve Jobs Solved the Innovator's Dilemma · · Score: 2

    Apple outsourced production because assembling electronics in a 3rd world country costs you bubkes. Its funny that you think outsourcing is the cause of their success. They're good at polishing products, and their marketing machine has built a powerful brand image. Thats why they're successful.

  23. Re:Now just one point of failure on Amazon Bypassing Publishers By Signing Authors Directly · · Score: 1

    pdfs? Most ebooks (except scientific papers and textbooks) don't use pdfs. epub, mobi, and lit are the big players with actual ebooks. As to undercutting amazon - you're basically going up against an entrenched, well connected, well marketed, well known, and well funded opponent. good luck.

  24. Re:What a maroon! on Amazon Bypassing Publishers By Signing Authors Directly · · Score: 1

    Amazon now has editors. I assure you they can afford to pay them just as much as the big publishers. Hell, I bet once authors start making a decent amount of what their books sell for they could hire them themselves.

  25. Re:She was debt-ridden on Amazon Bypassing Publishers By Signing Authors Directly · · Score: 1

    She was debt ridden because it took her too long to write her novel, her publisher offered a shitty overall deal, a shitty advance, and she seemingly had no choice. desperation drove her to to self publish, and the big publishers are so scared of real money making authors self-publishing they're trying to starve her out. they're holding 4 years of her work for a $20k advance they gave her, even while its entirely possible (nay, likely, since $20k is not reasonably enough to not publish for 2 years) she never breached her contract. Writing books is hard work and the publishing industry is brutal. Most authors don't make JK Rowling like money, and live off of advances. The death of the traditional book publishing industry will probably make life better for most authors.