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User: wcrowe

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  1. Lather, rinse, repeat on Ask Slashdot: How Do You Prove an IT Manager Is Incompetent? · · Score: 1

    If Dilbert hasn't been able to do it in twenty years, you won't be able to either. Here's how it works: the incompetent IT manager comes in; screws everything up; then leaves for another company right about the time that upper management gets the idea he/she is incompetent. Then they hire a new incompetent IT manager. Lather, rinse, repeat.

  2. More like ten years, but... on Ask Slashdot: What Will IT Departments Look Like In 5 Years? · · Score: 1

    I don't know that they will look that different in five years. In ten years or so I think IT departments might not exist at all. The networking types will be in the maintenance department. Other departments will have their own "analysts", or whatever, who will handle the more intricate data integration issues. Software and storage will be leased and will be offsite. Custom programming, as we traditionally understand it, will be practically unheard of. Any special apps will be created by the aforementioned "analysts".

    At any rate, I intend to be retired by then. It is up to the next generation to decide how they want to work.

  3. The very question is invalid. on Seeking Fifth Amendment Defenders · · Score: 1

    By asking for a specific scenario you imply that such a question is relevant. It is not. In a society where a person is innocent until proven guilty, the burden of proof is on the state. Period. No person should be compelled to assist the state in meeting that burden. It's called a burden for a reason. The reasoning behind protection from self incrimination is inherent and inalienable. It protects people from torture, blackmail and coercion. It is SUPPOSED to be difficult to convict someone of a crime. We are not meant to have a society where it is easy to incarcerate a large percentage of the population just whenever the state feels like it. Do they not teach civics in school any more?

  4. Why they can build faster in China on Chinese Firm Approved To Raise World's Tallest Building In 90 Days · · Score: 1

    In China they can build faster because they don't install fire exits.

  5. I don't get this. on China Criticizes US For Making Weapon Plans Steal-able, Alleges Attacks From US · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I always thought it was a rule from Espionage 101 that you don't let the other side know when your side has been compromised. You use it as an opportunity to start sending out false information, and to learn their tactics and precisely who is involved. I don't understand why we are telling everyone in the world that the Chinese have stolen our information. It just makes us look inept in all sorts of ways.

  6. Not for Italian grandmothers on Wi-Fi Signals Allow Gesture Recognition All Through the Home · · Score: 2

    It's great until your Italian grandmother comes by for a visit.

  7. Bad summary? on Genetic Switches Behind 'Love' Identified In Prairie Voles · · Score: 1

    I'll give the summary writer a bit of a break since they did put "love" in quotes, but let's not take this concept too far. I love a number of people with whom I have never mated; and there are several people with whom I have mated that I do not love.

    The article writers, to their credit, do not use the term "love" anywhere in their abstract.

  8. I saw this article in my news feed today, and found it difficult to get through. I wonder if anyone knows if it is a translation from Swedish (or whatever Assange's native language is). Many of the words in the article make no sense, given the context. For example, "idiom", which appears in the Slashdot summary. I don't think that word means what he (or the translator) thinks it means. I think what they're looking for is, perhaps, "paradigm".

    Anyway, this is either a bad translation, or the ramblings of a madman.
       

  9. Priorities? on India's ICBM Will Carry Multiple Nuclear Warheads · · Score: 1

    There are 600 million Indians without access to toilets, but they are building ICBMs. At least they've got their priorities straight.

  10. Did I read that right? on First Looks At Windows 8.1, Complete With 'Start' Button · · Score: 2

    "On any single monitor, more than two applications can be run simultaneously."

    Uhh, did I read that right? Is this Windows 8.1 or 2.1?

  11. Enhance and zoom, of course. on Ask Slashdot: How To Determine If a Video Has Been Faked? · · Score: 1

    You enhance the video and zoom in on the reflections in the pupils of someone's eye, you know, like on CSI. Duh!

  12. The Thagomizer on Narrowing Down When Humans Began Hurling Spears · · Score: 2

    I am reminded of the Thagomizer.

    As dangerous as hunting large prey was, I imagine it did not take long to go from attaching a sharp rock to the end of a long stick, to throwing the long stick. When facing "the Thagomizer" the mental leap probably occurred in about a minute :-)

  13. "It has electrolytes." on 97% of Climate Science Papers Agree Global Warming Is Man-made · · Score: 1

    A lot of global warming is probably man-made. I won't argue against that. But this particular statistic (97.1% of papers) is meaningless. I sincerely doubt that all 12,000 papers are primary research. Most likely a lot of them simply reference each other. It's the equivalent to Idiocracy's, "it has electrolytes".

  14. Re:2nd Amendment Question on A Computer-based Smart Rifle With Incredible Accuracy, Now On Sale · · Score: 1

    He may be thinking about the use of such weapons in Northern Ireland, for instance.

  15. Great for assassins on A Computer-based Smart Rifle With Incredible Accuracy, Now On Sale · · Score: 1

    I've been wondering when something like this would become available. All the tech pieces to put it together have been around for quite some time. The scariest part about such a weapon is that there are only a couple of simple pieces to add to it to make it remotely controlled. Imagine how handy such a thing would be for an assassin. Set up the shot ahead of time, then make the kill at the appropriate time, in safety, perhaps even with an alibi.

    This weapon is a security professional's nightmare.

  16. The Nanosecond on Has Supercomputing Hit a Brick Wall? · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Back in the early 80's I got the opportunity to hear Grace Hopper speak. One of the stories she used to like to tell at her talks was about the time that she was having trouble visualizing a nanosecond. Eventually she sent a memo to her engineers which said, "Please send up one nanosecond." She waited, curious as to how they would respond. After a couple of days a response came back in the form of a metal rod 11-3/4 inches in length with the note attached, "One Nanosecond", and no other explanation. After puzzling over the metal rod she called down to the engineering department and asked, "I give up, what is it"? "That's the distance light travels in a nanosecond", was the response. Later, she sent another memo to the engineers with the request, "Please send up one picosecond." The engineers immediately responded with a memo instructing her to, "put the nanosecond in a pepper grinder and you can make picoseconds all over your desk."

    Grace Hopper's humorous anecdote underlines the serious problems faced by researchers when they push the boundaries. In her case, it was a real concern over how far a bit can travel at the speed of light. I have no idea if that has any bearing on the exascale problem, but it might illustrate the kinds of problems they might be running into.

  17. If it ain't broke don't fix it. on Ask Slashdot: Do You Trust When a Vendor Tells You To Buy New Parts? · · Score: 1

    Not if you're these guys.

  18. "Fishing URLs" on Microsoft Reads Your Skype Chat Messages · · Score: 1, Funny

    Here is an example of a fishing URL.

  19. Re:"Mayan" is a noun on Mayan Pyramid In Belize Leveled By Construction Crew · · Score: 4, Informative

    Not according to Merriam-Webster.

  20. In similar news on Mayan Pyramid In Belize Leveled By Construction Crew · · Score: 1

    A friend shared this story recently.

    The new global zeitgeist of sans souci. "Ah, well. It doesn't affect me. Let's have another Coke", and don't forget to toss the empty cup out the window.

  21. Better than The Elegant Universe? on Cosmos Remake Coming To Fox In 2014 · · Score: 1

    Neil deGrasse Tyson will be an excellent show host. I'm looking forward to it, although it will be hard to beat The Elegant Universe series offered on PBS.

  22. Where to start? on "Dramatic Decline" Warning For Plants and Animals · · Score: 1

    I'll throw my two cents out into the "noise". I've noticed a depressing trend in recent years. People tossing trash out of their cars. Invariably it is the leftovers of some fast food meal, choked down in the car, and tossed out the window for someone else to pick up -- or not. The streets in my neighborhood are festooned with such litter. Originally, I blamed the problem on one particular ethnic group below a certain age. But in time I've noticed people of all colors doing the same thing, and of an age when they really should know better.

    What does this have to do with CO2 levels? My point is, how can we expect people to care about the larger problems, if they won't even deposit their trash in a proper receptacle? I would like to start improving the planet in ways that pretty much everyone can agree upon. Let us begin taking care of the trash. Then maybe we can start working on the bigger problems.

  23. About 20 years too late. on John McCain Working On Legislation For 'a La Carte' TV Channel Packages · · Score: 1

    This really had me scratching my head because the legislation is about 20 years too late. Then I realized that it's John McCain, and his constituency are probably seniors who still watch a lot of cable. I'm not exactly young, but even I just download or stream something if I really want to watch it.

  24. The Word/Excel security blanket on Real World Stats Show Chromebooks Are Struggling · · Score: 1

    Like a lot of you, I'm sure, I'm one of those people that non-technical people come to for advice on computers. The trend I've noticed is this: when people ask me about getting a Chromebook, most of the time their first question is, "Can it run Word/Excel?" When I say no, that's it. They're not interested in it beyond that point. There are just so many people who cannot get away from the "security blanket" they have with Word/Excel.

    Personally, I think Chromebooks are great for what they are. I got one for my daughter last year and she absolutely loves it. Of course she has never developed an attachment to Word/Excel, and mostly just wants an internet-access device. I loved the fact that the Chromebook was half the cost of an iPad.

  25. Re:Reality shows are absolutely real and honest. on When Vote Counting Goes Bad · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I see, so you're sure it's a contest? And not just a show that appears to be a contest?