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User: NewWorldDan

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Comments · 598

  1. Supply and demand on Why Didn't Sidecar's Flex Pricing Work? · · Score: 5, Insightful

    What an idiot. He spells out the whole thing but can't see the big picture. Sidecar is hampered by a lack of drivers. Drivers are making more money on Lyft and UberX, so that's where they go. And those companies also have better marketing departments so they get more business. It's really not that complicated.

  2. Re:Static IP reverse DNS. on Ask Slashdot: How To Unblock Email From My Comcast-Hosted Server? · · Score: 1

    Not just that, even if you have both a valid forward and reverse DNS entry, a lot of spam filters will reject the message if the DNS entry is in the format of x192.168.168.168.comcast.net or other similar format. Make sure both the forward and reverse are for your domain. I had that problem when I first put my business server on Comcast.

  3. Re:On the other hand... on FTDI Reportedly Bricking Devices Using Competitors' Chips. · · Score: 2

    It may be that the only way to detect the counterfeit hardware is to see if it breaks. That's still the wrong way to go about it, though.

  4. Re:Trade school vs College on Does Learning To Code Outweigh a Degree In Computer Science? · · Score: 2

    In terms of hiring, I have yet to see a college or trade school that does an adequate job. Fundamentally, I'm hiring people to develop web apps on the MS MVC stack. That requires a bit of theory, architecture, security, and hands on coding skills. If you can't actually code, you're worthless. I give all applicants a CS101 level coding test. Anyone worth hiring will be done in under 5 minutes. From there, it turns in to an interview about your theoretical knowledge and patterns. Anyone without a basic grasp of security and best practices is a liability. And most recent grads, even if they have all that covered, take 6-12 months to really become useful. At which time, they expect to get paid a boatload of money, except I've got to somehow account for the expense of training them to be useful. It's all kind of frustrating, really,.

  5. Re:Bad Advice on Why Phone Stores Should Stockpile Replacements · · Score: 1

    His columns aren't always terrible, but this one was particularly dumb. Oh no, I'm so god damn special that I can't wait 2 days to get my phone replaced. If it's that big of a deal, either get better insurance or buy your own spare phone.

  6. Re:Why do CS grads become lowly programmers? on Ask Slashdot: "Real" Computer Scientists vs. Modern Curriculum? · · Score: 1

    Is it too much to ask that whatever their course of study they take at least one class on the principles of web application security? When I can hack your web app six ways before lunch time, there's a major gap in your education.

  7. Re:shift of blame. on A 24-Year-Old Scammed Apple 42 Times In 16 Different States · · Score: 1

    Fraud is fraud. They aren't going after the banks, just arresting the actual criminal.

    This scam is nothing new. I fell for it once 20 years ago when I was 18. The customer told me I needed to use the number printed on the card to get an authorization code. Being 18 and not knowing any better, that's what I did. Everything seemed legit during the phone call, I punched it in to the card system, and the scammer walked away with a very nice laptop.

    Now that I know how the scam works, I could easily spot it and have the guy arrested. Asking the typical register jockey to do so? Not likely. I'm actually a little surprised that override codes are still a thing. The last time I worked a register (about 13 years ago), a declined card was a declined card, no exceptions.

  8. Alternate view on Netflix Reduces Physical-Disc Processing, Keeps Prices the Same · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Alternately, you could claim that they cut Saturday processing instead of raising prices. I'm hardly outraged about this.

  9. Re:I used to donate blood... on Human Blood Substitute Could Help Meet Donor Blood Shortfall · · Score: 1

    By law, all the blood donations in the US have to come from volunteers -- donors are not allowed to sell blood

    Then fix the law. I'll give my blood away for free when everyone working at the blood bank and the hospital start working for free as well. Until then, my O-Neg blood is staying where it is. Frankly, it takes balls to ask me to donate when everyone else in the system is in there for the money. Pay people for blood and the shortages will disappear. At least in the US. 3rd world countries may have other institutional problems getting in the way.

  10. Re:the summary is a lie on The Ethics Cloud Over Ballmer's $2 Billion B-Ball Buy · · Score: 1

    With the long term capital gains tax rate at 15%, I'd just pay the tax. Odds are that rate is going back up at some point in the not too distant future.

  11. Re:By mistake? on Apple Says Many Users 'Bought an Android Phone By Mistake' · · Score: 1

    Oh, I've bought a few phones that were, in hindsight, mistakes. I knew what I was buying, I just didn't know it was crap. Android prior to Gingerbread was crap, and even Gingerbread was kind of iffy. Fortunately, smartphones have reached a point where even the cheap phones are pretty nice. My S3 is approaching 2 years old and I may continue to use it for another 2 years.

  12. Re:Already being done in the US on Mutant Registration vs. Vaccine Registration · · Score: 1

    I always fill out the conscientious objector form, even though my kid is vaccinated. It's none of the government's business. Yep, I'm one of those people.

  13. Re:Sigh on Virtual DVDs, Revisited · · Score: 1

    He's a columnist. He's probably more qualified than the idiots who write for my local newspaper. But his job is to write something even if he doesn't really have anything to say.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bennett_Haselton

    And in this case, there's not much to say. Movie streaming, DVD sales, rentals, etc., are tied up in a web of contracts and distribution agreements, and it's entirely possible that a studio couldn't sell streaming on some things even if they wanted to. Also, a lot of movies are available on Amazon Instant Video as 24 hours rentals. Ta Da. The challenge for Amazon, Netflix, and the studios is how do they milk the most money out of consumers while at the same time satisfying all of their existing contractual obligations. They're all smart companies, it's just more complicated than poor Bennett understands.

  14. Re:Surface: the only Hope on With the Surface Pro, Microsoft Is Trying To Recreate the PC Market · · Score: 5, Interesting

    They're a fantastic business machine. They really are.

    But at the same time, Microsoft is losing a whole generation of users who are learning that they don't need Microsoft. I would argue that a lot of Apple's success today stems from the fact that they were the dominant machine in schools 30 years ago.

    Kids today are running around with 7" tablets. Sure, they're infotainment, but they do everything on those tablets. Web, Skype, Netflix, they type up homework, and of course, play games. It is a major strategic mistake to ignore the 7" tablet market.

  15. Re:EFF's Privacy Badger on 5 Years Later, 'Do Not Track' System Ineffective · · Score: 2

    I use a DNS (hosts file) based ad blocker. Works great. Although I'm less concerned about being tracked than I am about someone using ad networks as a vector for malware.

    I'm not opposed to advertising, but until ad networks can be trusted, I'm going to leave the blocks in place.

  16. Re:Why? on Silicon Valley To Get a Cellular Network Just For Things · · Score: 3, Informative

    It's called equipment monitoring. I make a monitoring system for stand-by generators. It turns out that there are laws about how often you can run your generator in a non-emergency fashion in some states. My monitoring service costs a tiny fraction of the fine for an incomplete log book. As an added benefit, it can automatically notify your maintenance company that the generator needs repair or fuel.

    No one cares about connecting your toaster to the internet. However, there are a lot of monitoring applications that can really benefit from a low cost low bandwidth service.

  17. Re:Just Tack on a Fee on Driverless Cars Could Cripple Law Enforcement Budgets · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Taxing EVs makes perfect sense. They still need roads to be built and maintained.

    Adding an enforcement fee for a car that doesn't need enforcement is just absurd. If the number of tickets being written drops because there are no more speeding cars and reckless drivers, then just reduce the size of the police force. You don't need patrol cops any more and that's a good thing. Instead of employing people as patrol cops, they can instead work as artists or scientists or something that makes the world better instead of being a necessary evil.

  18. Re:How do I check my level? on Ask Slashdot: Minimum Programming Competence In Order To Get a Job? · · Score: 1

    How do you check your level? Here's a little test...

    Test 1: write a program that loops through the number 1 to 20. If the number is a multiple of 3, write "Fizz", if the number is a multiple of 5, write "Buzz", if the number is a multiple of 3 and 5, write "FizzBuzz". For all other numbers, just write the number.

    Test 2: read a text file full of numbers, sort it, and write out the sorted list of numbers back out to a second text file.

    If you can do both in under 15 minutes, you're at least a 7/10, and I may have a job for you. Seriously. I hire programmers and 3 out of 4 can't do that. One guy with 5 years experience took almost an hour to produce 2 programs that were almost correct. I rate myself a 9/10, which says less about my skills than it does about 90% of the people working in the industry.

  19. Re:Solution without a problem on A Look at Smart Gun Technology · · Score: 1

    The problem isn't the lack of market. You develop a smart gun because you think you can get politicians to mandate smart guns. That's why there's all the hate mail and threats from gun nuts. They don't want these guns, it's a dumb idea, and it will probably be forced on them eventually.

  20. Re:Beer with bacon fat and maple syrup on Ben Starr Answers Your Questions About Sustainability and Kitchen Tech · · Score: 1

    I've tried the Voodoo Maple Bacon beer, and that was enough to halt any thoughts I might have had about brewing with either bacon or maple. Lately, I've been working on making light beers (a very challenging task!) that are still interesting (an even more challenging task!). Ultimately, the problem with home brewing is that it was starting to make me fat.

    Still, I make a few full bodied beers to keep me happy and sane during the cold winter months.

  21. Re:That's why Atlanta (and other cities) ... on Comcast: Destroying What Makes a Competitive Internet Possible · · Score: 1

    Close... What cities actually need is a functioning marketplace for internet service. Right now, the driving cost, the barrier to entry, is putting wires or cables in the ground. If you uncouple the last mile from providing service, it gets really easy for ISPs to get in to the market. Google Fiber is just like any other ISP. They want to run the competition out of town so that they can get top dollar for their service. They want to be a monopoly. I assure you, if they had the same market penetration as Comcast, they would be just as bad. The best way to prevent this is to make the last mile a local utility. The ISP only needs to run fiber to the neighborhood and then cross connect their own customers.

  22. SpamBayes on Ask Slashdot: Beginner To Intermediate Programming Projects? · · Score: 1

    The SpamBayes email filter hasn't been updated in forever. The actual filtering part works great. The problem that needs solving is that it needs to be updated for Outlook 2013 (using the Ribbon) and for 64 bit platforms. It's open source, and written in Python.

    http://spambayes.sourceforge.n...

  23. Re:Not the phone on The Feature Phone Is Dead: Long Live the 'Basic Smartphone' · · Score: 3, Informative

    When I think about it, I really don't need a data plan anymore. 95% of my data is coming over WiFi networks anyway. My phone is already set up for data at home, work, the coffee shop, several restaurants, and my kid's school. The only time I really need data is if I'm lost and I need a map.

    On the other hand, I'm probably not all that typical. All I'm using for data is mostly email and weather. I don't play games on the phone and I'm not an app junkie. But even if I was, I think I could get by without an actual data plan.

  24. Re:Code words for... on Yahoo Stops Honoring 'Do-Not-Track' Settings · · Score: 1

    It was a dumb idea anyway. Asking a web server to honor the "do not track" setting is like asking my dog to guard a plate of cookies. If you want this to work, you've got to control privacy from the client, somehow. Alternately, you need a legal remedy of some sort.

  25. Re:Are they hiring? on Lessig Launches a Super PAC To End All Super PACs · · Score: 1

    I'd like to volunteer to show what a dumb idea this is. I propose that Mr Lessig attempt to get me elected to congress. I am exceedingly smart, but have no public speaking skills, and no matter how good I am at being right, I'm very bad at convincing people that I'm right. Also, I live in the district of a popular incumbent. So, if an unlimited amount of money can get me elected, then this idea will be validated and I'll definitely push for some campaign finance reform once elected. Otherwise, Larry can take that money and invest it in something more useful, like pizza. Because, really, it takes an absurd amount of money to sway even a very close race, and every attempt at CFR to date has backfired and left the controlling interests even more powerful.