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User: jimbolauski

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  1. Re:Wow on Venezuela: Cheap Television Sets For All! · · Score: 1

    Yes. However... this is not a result of socialism per se... it's a result of cronyism. There are quite a few Venezuelan companies which have not been targeted like this. There are plenty of stable social democracies around the world.

    It's is one of the byproducts of socialism, you have to have a central body in charge to determine what is fair an what is not. Fairness is a subjective measure doled out by imperfect humans corrupted by their power.

    In the socialist countries that are not complete failures their economy only survives in spite of their governments measures. This is true in many smaller European countries where the poor live in another country, the successful outnumber the unsuccessful so the unsuccessful are not a huge burden on the economy. Larger countries like the US can not afford that as there are too many people not paying into the system.

  2. Re:Is it working? on US FDA Moves To Ban Trans Fat · · Score: 1

    Instead of banning them, just require that even trace amounts the trans fats be listed, then the consumer can decide.

  3. Re:Tag, you're it! (the kid in detention) on Elementary School Bans Students From Touching Each Other · · Score: 2

    Not just tag just about every sport has come contact. Singles tennis, badminton, and dodge ball are the only games kids could play, I have a feeling the administrator's kids would get more then a few bloody noses from dodge ball.

  4. Re:The Type on Elementary School Bans Students From Touching Each Other · · Score: 1

    I don't think he was talking about all administrators, just the ones that enacted this policy.

  5. Re:lower insurance? on Most Drivers Would Hand Keys Over To Computer If It Meant Lower Insurance Rates · · Score: 1

    Auto manufacturers would be liable if they could be shown to be grossly negligent (for example releasing a firmware without due testing), but otherwise the user will pay.

    They will be forced to pay damages plus pain and suffering in this case.

    The random "bug that slipped through duly diligent testing and goes on to kill someone" will just be one of those things that insurance covers.

    That is a manufacturing defect and the manufacturer will be responsible for the damages, they will not have to pay for pain and suffering in a case like this. Manufactures are all ready responsible if they make a mistake that leads to damage or death, that is why recalls are issued to mitigate the number of lawsuits for their faulty products.

  6. Re:lower insurance? on Most Drivers Would Hand Keys Over To Computer If It Meant Lower Insurance Rates · · Score: 1

    The liability insurance would be rolled up into the price of the car, the manufacturer would be responsible for any bugs in programming that caused fatalities or damage. You are still paying for it just not directly.

  7. Re:About time on Blockbuster To Close Remaining US Locations · · Score: 1

    But you physically have to get up and put the DVD/BD in the tray, I've streamed more then a few movies that I have on DVD/Blu Ray because I didn't want to go through the hassle to find it. I don't like movies because of superior sound or audio I like movies for their story, if the audio and video are band enough that it detracts from the story it's a problem otherwise I'm happy with compressed audio and video.

  8. Re:"Impact on self-driving cars?" - None on Toyota's Killer Firmware · · Score: 1

    The greater good argument won't hold up in court, if they make a mistake in their code that leads to an accident of fatality they will be held responsible.

  9. Re:Labor is valueless on What If the "Sharing Economy" Organized a Strike, and Nobody Came? · · Score: 1

    McDonald's is paying their employees what their labor is worth, there is no SHOULD. Unskilled labor is something that 97% of the workforce can do, it simply has little value because of that. The Government is not subsidizing McDonalds just their unskilled employees, your employer has no responsibility to pay you what you think you need to survive just what you and they agreed to before your employment started. If you think it is too little then ask for a raise or find an employer that will pay you what you you feel you deserve. The reason unskilled labor feels they have no power to negotiate is because they don't, anybody can do their job and more then enough people will gladly to the job for the wage McDonalds is offering. On the other hand we could do it your way where the government intervenes in private agreements between employees and employers and private agreements between franchise owners and the franchising companies. Just to make sure that unskilled workers get paid what skilled labor does. If that doesn't motivate people to better themselves I don't know what will, you can make $20 an hour flipping burgers or make $20 an hour after paying to go to a trade school.

  10. Re:Labor is valueless on What If the "Sharing Economy" Organized a Strike, and Nobody Came? · · Score: 1

    McDonald's franchises do not make obscene profit margins, typicaly 10% which is average for the business sector. I know your socialism 101 professor told you that McDonalds has a 20% margin but they don't run stores just sell franchising opportunities and rent the buildings and land to the business owners. Doubling the franchise owner's employees wages would lead to a 30% increase in cost of their product. Mcdonlads franchises make 50 - 100k in profits a year off a 1.5 - 2 million dollar investment which means they are earning around 5-10% on that investment. Mcdonalds franchises are some of the more profitable franchises yet they are not the huge money makers people think they are and the wage increases will be pushed to the consumer.

  11. Re:Near Zero Information in the article on Dolphins' Hunting Technique Inspires New Radar Device · · Score: 1

    There's a bit of confusion over the meaning of background noise. In this example, it's not stray sound or RF, but reflections from things you don't care about. For dolphins, they're talking about air bubbles in the water. .

    That's because it is called clutter, the royal society article title Radar clutter suppression and target discrimination using twin inverted pulses I suspect minty3 did not RTFA or even has the slightest understanding of Radar, my theory is given more weight by the poor summary. He probably skimmed the 1st paragraph of one of the puff piece articles he linked to and called it good.

  12. Re:Summary incorrect based on article on Dolphins' Hunting Technique Inspires New Radar Device · · Score: 1

    I suspect it has more to do with having two ears and being able to filter out bubble walls. Two ears will give dolphins stereoscopic sonar pinpointing range add in the fact that they are familiar with the response from bubbles and visually can determine their depth and they could easily filter the bubbles returns.

  13. Re:Secret Emails and they fire a tweeter? on White House Official Tracked Down and Fired Over Insulting Tweets · · Score: 1

    The only things you can't fire a person for are religion, sex, race, and sexual orientation, everything else is fair grounds. An employer is not bound to keep you as long as you do your job just as you can leave the company you work for anytime you see fit.

  14. Re:It's about time. on Court Rules Probable-Cause Warrant Required For GPS Trackers · · Score: 2

    after all, you refusing to give up your fifth amendment rights makes it hard to investigate as well, and I don't see anyone ACTIVELY trying to get rid of those. Behind the scenes when they think we aren't looking, they're working on it...

    Unfortunately there are more then a few morons that think the greater good of society would be served better without the 5th amendment. Bennett Haselton's Response To That "Don't Talk to Cops" Video

  15. Re:Can you climb into the backseat and hide? on Court Rules Probable-Cause Warrant Required For GPS Trackers · · Score: 1

    As a GPS tracker is simply a proxy for a person hiding in the car and tagging along for the ride, writing down everyplace you go, the answer to this question has always been pretty self-evident to me. You need a warrant.

    If that were true then no warrant would be needed, as following a person is not illegal barring intimidation/harassment. The major difference is that they are affixing an object to a person's property without the owner's consent in order to track them. Putting a tracking or listening device on a person's property constitutes a search and requires a warrant.

  16. Re:Presence of self-awareness on Physicist Unveils a 'Turing Test' For Free Will · · Score: 1

    Is the worm making decisions on where to go or is it simply a response to its environment like a heater thermostat?

  17. Re:routine IT work on How To FIx Healthcare.gov: Go Open-Source! · · Score: 2

    You mean to tell me that a centralized database that millions of people are trying to access can't be fixed by adding a few cpus and a couple sticks of ram. I guarantee that there is a single server handling all the queries for some critical part of this mess, they could probably figure out which server just by fan noise.

  18. Re:Rearrange the deck chairs. on How To FIx Healthcare.gov: Go Open-Source! · · Score: 2

    "It doesn't matter how many guys you put on the job the baby is still going to take 9 months"
    A former manager at my company during a telecon with the board of directors.

  19. Re:It's called Solitaire on Myst Creators Announce Obduction · · Score: 1

    You are spot on about everything except there being no walkthroughs, back in my day if you got stuck you had to ask you friends or wait a year for the walkthrough to be published, the Myst walkthrough took two years from the game release date, I can remember my friends complaining about having to wait longer when the release date kept getting pushed back. Partly because of the delays in the publishing and the dawn of the internet age people started looking to the internet for solutions to Myst puzzles, shortly after that full walkthroughs were available online. If memory serves me correctly there were more then a few walkthroughs available in Myst before Prima's strategy guide was published for Myst.

  20. Talking to the police outcomes on Bennett Haselton's Response To That "Don't Talk to Cops" Video · · Score: 2

    The risk for an innocent person talking to police if very high, an innocent person only gains not having to retain a lawyer IF the police find their statement creditable. The cost to society does not factor into this decision as the 5th amendment is about personal freedoms and personal protection. What the 5th amendment protects against is silence being used against you in a trial, "he refused to answer questions so that must mean he is guilty mentality". Situations where the innocent person may not recall events perfectly and is now forced to testify would become damming evidence of their guilt. That is what the 5th amendment protects against, it protects innocent people from an imperfect system. The downside is that guilty people can exploit that, but I value the rights of the innocent over the Greater Good of society.

  21. Re:Shift on Its Nuclear Plant Closed, Maine Town Is Full of Regret · · Score: 1

    There is a perfectly good renewable source that environmentalists hate, hydro. Unfortunately it blocks fish's migratory paths otherwise clean renewable energy would be abundant and readily available. Hydro in the US could easily account for 30% of the US electricity consumption it currently accounts for 6%, 1/3 of fossil fuel electricity production could be halted for a cleaner and cheaper energy source but it's not utilized so fish can can go lay eggs up stream.

  22. Re:Googlers? Really? on Those Magnificent Googlers and Their Flying Machines · · Score: 1

    Solar Planes are all ready possibly using 20% efficiency solar cells, with new cells able to hit 40% efficiency that are entering production never may come very soon. With battery weight going down it's a very good possibility that in the next 10 years a solar powered plane will be able to transport 4 people across the country. Add in the fact that maintenance costs will be less and there will be no fuel costs these planes could very easily compete with the Pipers.

  23. Re:Bradley Manning on Arrested Chinese Blogger "Confesses" On State TV, Praises Censorship · · Score: 1

    So then you must also know that there are proper channels to file complaints when there is classified information involved. Did Manning use those channels then after getting no where decided to expose wrong doing by releasing classified information to the public.

    If the chain of command is implicated in the evidence, and it is, why would he trust the chain of command to "fix" something or take appropriate action? That logic is not complex, and is exactly why whistle blowers have been protected until very recent times.

    You don't file those complaints up the chain of command there are different channels that are used, DOD Defense Hotline I could see how you might not know about it, it's only discussed at all security training and semi-annual training on it is required on for a NIPER-net account which manning had. I'm guessing you never worn the uniform or know the job.

    Also stop with the lies! Manning did not release anything to the public! Manning and Snowden released to Journalists. This is why journalists were also protected until very recent times.

    The journalists are the public quit trying to play semantics, he gave classified information to people who were not briefed to that information.

  24. Re:Bradley Manning on Arrested Chinese Blogger "Confesses" On State TV, Praises Censorship · · Score: 1

    Wrong! The first rule you learn in the US Army is that you are to uphold the Constitution and defend the citizens. You also learn that you are not to obey orders that are unlawful and therefor illegal.

    Wear the Uniform and learn the job before you spout off bullshit propaganda. .

    So then you must also know that there are proper channels to file complaints when there is classified information involved. Did Manning use those channels then after getting no where decided to expose wrong doing by releasing classified information to the public. Absolutely not he gathered up all the classified information he could get and published it weather or not it had to do with wrong doing. Further the information he published showed very little wrong doing, the supposed video of US troops attaching unarmed civilians was simply doctored, Assange even admitted that they doctored the video to produce outrage when there should have been none.

  25. Re:Will it make BMWs cheaper? on Robots Join Final Assembly Line At US Auto Plant · · Score: 1

    Nobody benefits except the finance guys.

    Again.

    And the people installing the robots, maintaining the robots, building the robots, but no the the price of a BM will still be high, they have to recoup the initial investment cost for the robots and unemployment/severance for the humans.