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User: doug

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  1. milk plus on Military Labs Develop Caffeinated Jerky and "Zapplesauce" · · Score: 1

    They just need milk plus to have a complete and balanced meal

  2. Re:In other words, we should give up. on Ron Paul Suggests Axing 5 U.S. Federal Departments (and Budgets) · · Score: 1

    I do like the idea of doing more stuff at the State level, and a century ago much of that would have been done at the State level. So I'm all for moving in that direction.

    But this discussion is about financing, and isn't this proposal just shifting the burden of paying for them from one layer of Government to another? That isn't really a savings, which is most likely Ron Paul's objective. Since most States already have balanced budget requirements, that would be good for the long term. But don't just dump it in the lap of the States as part of some knee-jerk reaction. A budgetary shell game is not in the best interests of the Nation, and since most States are broke right now, robbing Peter to pay Paul ain't going to work.

    - doug

    BTW: I'm just focusing on the funding issue. I know that this is actually more complicated than just funding.

  3. Re:SpaceX diversion on Boeing Suggests Possible Manned Version of the X-37B Space Plane · · Score: 2

    Don't care. This won't stop SpaceX. And who knows, maybe it will turn out to be a viable launch system. I don't care much about who is behind these systems, as long as we get something that enables manned space flight. And I would prefer competition to a single source.

  4. Re:For sure Marx had a point on Marx May Have Had a Point · · Score: 1

    No its not. People stumble on to the right thing all the time without knowing why its right. Doing the right thing for the wrong reason is so common that it even has its own expression. So it is possible for a solid analysis to lead to a poor solution, and it is possible to stumble onto a correct solution with a bad analysis of the problem. They are unrelated.

    In this case Marx identified some problems associated with Capitalism and proposed a possible solution. Other people have shot down various parts of his proposal. So the credit that Marx is due is not "finding the correct solution", but for identifying a problem, and starting the discussion on how to fix it. Since we're still talking about him well over a century later, it seems that some of his ideas have resonated with a large number of people. That alone is pretty impressive.

    - doug

  5. Re:It cuts both ways... on Social Media a Threat To Undercover Cops · · Score: 1

    I don't know about helping the cops, but I've heard that Facebook is a divorce lawyer's best friend.

  6. Its not just the FCC on FSF Uses Android FUD To Push GPLv3 · · Score: 1

    I remember something from a few years ago about the FCC equivalent in Japan being much tougher than our beloved FCC. That have regulations requiring fixed frequencies that basically mean if you can change your broadcast frequency in software, and the software isn't locked tight, then you can't use it in Japan. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the European nations have pretty tough rules too.

  7. the difference between profession and amateur on 'The Code Has Already Been Written' · · Score: 1

    My personal observation was that when I got my BS way back in 1990, I knew everything that I needed to succeed in the software world except for handling non-sunny day cases. Sure, we talked about stuff like error handling, validating user input, and so forth in various classes, but it didn't really sink in. It wasn't until I had a job and worked on a system that had to stay up and run for months at a time that I learned those lessons. Most school projects only last one semester, and really only have to work once, so no one really gets much exposure to the necessity of bullet proof code.

    Those scientists seem to have the same mind set. It works in a few sunny day cases, so it must be ready to ship. Management can think like that too, especially if some other group is tasked with support and bug fixes. But those of who have had to pick up the pieces know better than that. Isn't that part of the value-add that profession software people add to a project? Coding really isn't that hard to anyone who can handle the symbolic manipulation (mostly algebra) and can pay attention to details. But there is a world of difference between toys and serious applications.

    As a software engineer, if you find yourself in that situation, your road is simple: look at the source, find a few corner cases that will break it, and then you can demonstrate that the code is not production ready. Then you should be able to get the green light to harden it. If you do it right, you can earn the respect of whomever cobbled together the original code, and then you can work with them next time. That is kinda the Holy Grail, isn't? You get to add your software experience and they get to add their domain knowledge.

    And if they are jerks about it, at least you get to rub it in their faces how bad they are at writing code. While that isn't really a "win" of any sort, it can be amusing to knock someone down who has put himself on a pedestal that he hasn't earned.

    - doug

  8. Re:OK, I'm a grammar nazi, so sue me on 41% of Chinese Websites Shut Down In 2010 · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    He also corrected s/Chine/China/ although technically a typo isn't a grammar mistake.

  9. Re:Maybe a million monkeys on Can a Monkey Get a Copyright & Issue a Takedown? · · Score: 1

    You are absolutely right. But will the IP lawyers ever understand that point?

  10. Re:Yeah - maybe if you look at it in a silo on Physical Pain and Emotional Pain Use Same Brain Networks · · Score: 2

    Everybody deserves a boot to the head. Sometimes we know why, sometimes not.

  11. Re:Osama on Wikileaks Cables Say No Bloodshed Inside Tiananmen Square · · Score: 1

    I don't get your point. What is it that you are trying to say? The original poster said that Marines were involved. I have not seen anything mentioning the Marines, just Navy SEALs, so I pointed that out. Now you're saying that we can call the Marines "Navy", which might technically be true, but is irrelevant. It is not accurate to call SEALs "Marines".

  12. Re:Osama on Wikileaks Cables Say No Bloodshed Inside Tiananmen Square · · Score: 0

    Marines? I thought it was the Navy.

  13. Re:powers of ten on HP Advances Next-Gen Memory Technology · · Score: 1

    It isn't that I can't use metric. It is that I don't want to use metric. I am reasonably comfortable using metric with no (or just minimal) conversions to Imperial units. I know the two systems well enough, and I know which system I prefer.

    The bit I've never gotten is why those who use metric assume that we don't because we are too stupid to do so. It really comes off as being needy and lacking in self confidence. Since there is someone who made a choice different than you, you collectively feel some need to insult and claim superiority. Ooh. Using metric makes a better person. Pathetic, really. Why do you care which system we use?

    ob jackass comment: We should have forced Europe to convert to Imperial in 1945. It would have meant that I wouldn't have had to listen to so many pro-metric wankers.

  14. Re:Couldn't be simpler on Draft Proposal Would Create Agency To Tax Cars By the Mile · · Score: 1

    Isn't odometer reading one of the data points collected as part of the annual inspection? Here in NC that is all electronic, so my guess that the state does have that data already. The feasibility question is the state providing that info to the feds, not gathering it from my car.

    - doug

  15. Re:numbers?? on Google, Microsoft In Epic Hiring War · · Score: 1

    Yeah. MS will have to be backfilling those 6200 positions.

  16. nonsense on Firefox 4 Released! · · Score: 2

    MS doesn't want to leave any of its customers using old, insecure browsers. In fact, it is just the opposite. They want to sell them an upgrade. And if they get two upgrades in one (browser and OS) then they are <charliesheen>winning!</charliesheen>.

    - doug

  17. Re:Winning! on Hands-on Face-off: IPad 2 V Motorola Xoom · · Score: 1

    Actually, you need "tiger blood". And believe it or not, you can order it from Paula Dean's website.

  18. Re:Technically... on Utah To Teach USA is a Republic, Not a Democracy · · Score: 1

    I thought that the US of A never recognized those states as leaving. Wasn't the whole war fought over that issue? If the goal was to eliminate slavery by invading a foreign country, why stop with the CSA?

  19. My kids stumbled onto this on Verizon Offers Refunds For Fraudulent SMS Messages · · Score: 1

    My older son was being billed for $9.95/month and when I called Verizon and asked about it, they gave him a refund and blocked out the ptxt service. One call to 611 got the whole thing worked out. It was annoying, but Verizon fixed the problem.

  20. Re:Technically... on Utah To Teach USA is a Republic, Not a Democracy · · Score: 1

    Actually, they are right. We are a republic that happens to use democracy to select our leaders. In a true democracy, it is pure majority rule. We have lots of restrictions that prevent the majority from enforcing its will over minorities. The whole separation of church and state, the Equal Rights Act, and many others all ensure that the majority cannot do anything and everything that it wishes. We are a republic first and and democracy second.

    The distinction you are making between a representative democracy and a direct democracy is valid. But even our representatives have restrictions, so the rule of law (our constitution) trumps any vote. I don't know of any nation that is a true democracy, everyone seems to have gone down the republic path.

    And remember that democracy cannot be used to change every bit of our constitution. For example, there is no mechanism to leave the United States of America. Just ask the Confederate States of America.

    - doug

  21. Re:Good Fucking Grief on US Justice Department Dug Up Reporter's Phone, Bank Records · · Score: 2

    The party and political inclination of the POTUS has everything to do with it. When W was elected, his DoJ decided to stop investigating/charging MS for violating the Sherman Antitrust Act, although Clinton's DoJ put a lot of time/money into it. Now O's DoJ has decided that the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is unconstitutional and unenforceable, something that W's DoJ would never have done. Different administrations, different slants on things.

    - doug

    PS: I'm not saying that W or O had any direct influence over either of these choices. But the president does get to nominate a lot of the top people in the DoJ, and everyone in the executive branch works for the president. And it is a good thing that the president's views come out in DoJ, because that is the whole point of having elections.

  22. Re:Isn't it a bit hot there? on Rural North Carolina Experiences Data Center Boom · · Score: 1

    It isn't the heat, it is the cost of electricity. I've heard that NetApp moved its server farm from Sunnydale to RTP, NC because the cost of electricity was lower. That savings of millions per year justified a huge long term shift. And that was RTP rates, I could easily believe that the mountains have cheaper still rates.

    - doug

  23. Re:NC State too on Rural North Carolina Experiences Data Center Boom · · Score: 1

    Actually, there is quite a lot of hydro electric out there, and the McGuire nuclear plant is in the Charlotte area. I'm not saying that there isn't any coal burning plants in Western NC, just that I think that much of the power comes from other sources.

    - doug

  24. Re:SCCS? on An Illustrated Version Control Timeline · · Score: 1

    SCCS is a decade older than anything else on this chart. Perhaps it was left off to avoid stretching it out too much.

    - doug

  25. zimbra & droid? on Open Source-Friendly Smartphones For the Small Office? · · Score: 2, Informative

    I've never used it, but if you set up a zimbra server, then you can use the connectors available for the 'droids. That should give you the services you need on a box that you control.

    - doug