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User: PopeRatzo

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  1. PRESS RELEASE ALERT! on Will Autonomous Cars Be the Insurance Industry's Napster Moment? · · Score: 1

    Most of us are looking forward to the advent of autonomous vehicles.

    Are you shitting me? Most of us were looking forward to the advent of flying cars, too.

    Earlier this week...
    http://www.pbs.org/newshour/ru...

    And who do they think is going to be purchasing all these "autonomous vehicles" and with all the twenty-somethings and millennials moving back home with their parents, how do they think they're going to afford them?

    Look, I don't mind advertisements on Slashdot, but goddamn, please stop with the press releases from "anonymous" parties.

  2. Blindfold test on $340 Audiophile Ethernet Cable Tested · · Score: 4, Funny

    I'm starting to wonder if all the loud music when I was younger damaged my ears. Every time I turn on the radio, everything sounds like shit.

  3. I love my sysadmin on System Administrator Appreciation Day 2015 · · Score: 4, Funny

    I just gave my sysadmin an eightball of coke and a box full of Raspberry Pi's. He says he's "planning something big".

    I'm starting to wonder if I should maybe tell someone.

  4. Re:"to this very day..." on The Weird History of the Microsoft Windows Start Button · · Score: 1

    Patent Office Lottery

  5. Re:Jesus 2.0 on A Robot That Can Walk and Jump On Water · · Score: 1

    Well, we can't say we weren't warned.

  6. Re:"to this very day..." on The Weird History of the Microsoft Windows Start Button · · Score: 4, Insightful

    He invented something so he got a 18-year country-wide monopoly on the idea. What's the problem?

    He invented a place on your computer desktop that you can click with a mouse and it will open a menu.

    Genius, I tell you. Who would have ever thought something like that was possible?

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

  7. Re:Biohacking? on The Biohacking Movement and Open Source Insulin · · Score: 1

    But they didn't win, did they? If they didn't win, it's irrelevant.

    So, you think it's "irrelevant" that this sacred GMO industry that you worship sued to block other companies from labeling their food as "GMO free"? You are truly a zealot. It wasn't about them trying to "prevent FUD". It was about them trying to block the free speech of people who don't use their products. And this is the industry to which you're willing to hand over the keys to our food supply?

    I still don't see you providing any shred of evidence that there are proven human health concerns for GMOs.

    For me, this is not about health concerns. If I was concerned about the food I eat, I wouldn't have had that burrito from the food cart lady with the prison tattoos this afternoon.

    This is entirely political. It's a pro-consumer issue for me. The consumers are paying the bill for GMOs, so if they want, they should get to know what they're paying for. I'm not asking for a law to be passed, I'm asking for food companies to start labeling their products truthfully. And to stop with using lobbyists to influence the government to pass laws to keep consumers from knowing what they're buying. And consumers should continue to run from GMO products until the industry is willing to label their products with this one truthful fact.

    And I want transparency in the patenting of basic foodstuffs, because that matters to me, and I'm the one paying the bill.

  8. "to this very day..." on The Weird History of the Microsoft Windows Start Button · · Score: 5, Informative

    and he came up with the Start button, for which he holds the patent today.

    Oh, how I hate our patent system.

  9. Re:Biohacking? on The Biohacking Movement and Open Source Insulin · · Score: 1

    If the customers "don't" get what they want, then buy the (likely overpriced) stuff labelled "GMO free"

    I bet you didn't know that the GMO industry sued to prevent people from labeling their food "GMO free".

    Face it, they just don't want you to know what you're buying.

    Nutritional information and list of ingredients are *government mandated*.

    But the kosher and halal designations are not. Nor is the word "delicious" in big letters or any of the other words on the label. When I walk into the grocery, why doesn't the sign above the corn say, "Roundup Corn 3 for $1"? If the wondrous, miraculous benefits of GMO foods really exist, why doesn't the GMO industry advertise that fact to the consumers?

    And if you say "They can't, because there's so much FUD", then you should know that the only proper commercial response to FUD is exercising your freedom of speech to market your products in a positive manner. The answer to bad speech is more good speech, not doing everything you can to obfuscate what is a truthful statement: "This food is made from genetically modified organisms". I would also request that the patent be clearly marked on the label. I want to know if the basic foodstuffs I buy are patented. Or is that also information I should not be allowed to have?

  10. Re:Marriage Partner on NY Judge Rules Research Chimps Are Not 'Legal Persons' · · Score: -1

    If they had been declared legal persons, you know someone would've tried to marry one.

    Too late.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

  11. Re:Not legal persons? on NY Judge Rules Research Chimps Are Not 'Legal Persons' · · Score: 3, Funny

    If they are not legal persons, that makes them illegal persons. Right?

    If they outlaw chimps, then only outlaws will have chimps.

  12. Re:The chimps need to band together and register a on NY Judge Rules Research Chimps Are Not 'Legal Persons' · · Score: 2, Funny

    The chimps need to band together and register as a corporation!

    I think it's already been done.

    http://www.trump.com/

  13. Re:Biohacking? on The Biohacking Movement and Open Source Insulin · · Score: 1

    Labelling them is arguably a "warning".

    And arguably, it's truth in advertising.

    There are labels of all sorts on food. There's a little "K" in a circle that means kosher and there's a symbol for Halal and there's labels that say "Grown in California" and "fresh" and "delicious". Those are not warnings.

    There is nutritional information, there's a list of ingredients. If consumers want it, why not a simple little symbol that shows the food was grown from GM organisms?

    Remember, it's the consumers that are paying for all the GMO research, for all the products, for all the salaries of all the scientists, for all the marketing and for the lobbyists trying to get the federal government to pass industry-friendly laws.

    When an industry tries to get laws passed which are meant to make sure customers DON'T get what they want, it raises red flags.

  14. Re:not there yet on The Biohacking Movement and Open Source Insulin · · Score: 1

    I was diagnosed as a Type 1 in 1997. Back then, a 10ml vial (U-100) of Eli Lilly's Humulin R or NPH costs--I'm not making this up-- $17.00. Today, without insurance, the same vial goes for $99. And this is for insulin made from recombinant DNA tech that has been around since the '70's like the article mentions.

    The wonders of modern science. Pharmaceutical companies use recombinant DNA tech to make a drug cheaper to make but more expensive for sick people to buy.

    Ain't it grand?

  15. Re:Biohacking? on The Biohacking Movement and Open Source Insulin · · Score: 1

    The food religion says GMO is bad until one of them happens to need insulin and also happens to be allergic to "natural" cow insulin, then GMO produced humulin (secreted by a genetically modified e. coli bacterium to be chemically similar to human insulin) is a miracle.

    And because tomatoes are delicious, we should all go eat a whole bunch of Atropa belladonna.

    The GMO religion believes that every GMO is a good GMO. That no genetically modified organism can ever possibly hurt you, so you must not be allowed to know which foods are from GMOs. They've never heard about NewLeaf Potatoes or LibertyLink Rice.

    You know the difference between GMO produced humulin and GMO produced food? GMO produced medicines are labeled. You know what else is different about them? The drug manufacturers who use GMOs have done a good job of marketing their products and the makers of Agent Orange have done a lousy job of marketing their products. Maybe if they used some of the money they spend lobbying congress to pass industry-friendly laws to market GMO foods to consumers, they might be able to sell people that genetically modified foods have worthwhile benefits.

  16. Re:Well, sure, but... on Genetically Modified Rice Makes More Food, Less Greenhouse Gas · · Score: 1

    Consumers don't care if their bread is made from Calingiri or Ytipi.

    But consumers DO care if their food is made from GMOs, so just put a label on it.

    Outside of GMOs, what do you normally think of companies that make decisions for consumers? Maybe Samsung doesn't think you need to know what kind of processor is in your cell phone, because well, it's pretty much the same, and you probably won't notice the difference. How about if a company that sells socks doesn't think you need to know if the socks you buy are really 100% cotton or a 60-40 blend of cotton and polyester? What if the company doesn't think you need to know if the socks in the package or green or brown?

    Remember, it's consumers who are paying the bills. They're the ones paying for the GMOs, and for all the research and for the marketing and press releases like the one in the article and for the high-paid lobbyists that are working to thwart their preferences. In most things, the person who's paying the bills gets to decide. The fact that you don't think consumers need to know something doesn't mean you get to decide whether they get to know something.

  17. Re:Well, sure, but... on Genetically Modified Rice Makes More Food, Less Greenhouse Gas · · Score: 1

    Just because you want to know something that is not worth including on a label doesn't mean they are hiding anything.

    No, the "hiding" part comes when you lobby congress to make sure no state can pass a labeling law.

  18. Robotic Surgeons? on Research: Industrial Networks Are Vulnerable To Devastating Cyberattacks · · Score: 2

    Does it make anyone else uncomfortable that this story about industrial networks being vulnerable to cyberattacks follows immediately after a story about robotic surgeons?

  19. Hacker Team on Beyond Safety: Is Robotic Surgery Sustainable? · · Score: 1

    How will we know the robotic surgeons have installed the most recent security updates? Will they be WiFi enabled so the teenager sitting in the hospital cafeteria can use them to play Operation and try to light up my nose while trying to take out my funny bone?

  20. Re:Well, sure, but... on Genetically Modified Rice Makes More Food, Less Greenhouse Gas · · Score: 1

    That's cute. You think that actual benefits of GMOs mean anything to the people listening to all the FUD that gets spread about them.

    And you think that hiding the foods' provenance is the way to make people stop believing the FUD? That's very interesting.

    Because when someone tells me I'm not allowed to know something about a product I'm buying, it immediately endears me to the company hiding the information.

  21. Re:Well, sure, but... on Genetically Modified Rice Makes More Food, Less Greenhouse Gas · · Score: 1

    ... what's it taste like?

    With all these miraculous properties, you'd think companies would want to let people know that their food is GMO. You know, like on the label.

  22. Re:Kentucky Man on Kentucky Man Arrested After Shooting Down Drone · · Score: 1

    I was thinking more along the lines of sending up an anti-drone drone to grab it and drag it back down.

    Sounds good, but only if I can make a drone that looks like Snoopy on top of a flying dog house.

  23. Re:Not that impresssed on Hacking a 'Smart' Sniper Rifle · · Score: -1, Troll

    So, it's a remote exploit in that you can do it if you're within Wi-Fi range (and the gun has it's Wi-Fi turned on)

    "Hello, Mr Zimmerman, I'm Brad from XYZ Firearms Corp and I'd like to walk you through a software update for your Smart SniperTM Rifle today that will make it much safer to use as well as 75% more accurate in hitting targets with black skin. There will be no charge for this update, but I'll need you to temporarily enable WiFi during this procedure."

    I bet you'd get very high levels of compliance from owners of "Smart SniperTM Rifles" in many areas of the US.

  24. Kentucky Man on Kentucky Man Arrested After Shooting Down Drone · · Score: 3, Funny

    There has to be a better way to take down drones. Firing a shotgun in your backyard into the air is going to be some kind of misdemeanor, even in Kentucky. Something like "discharge of a firearm inside city limits" or something.

    Can someone please start 3D-printing some silent drone-killing weapons? It would be so much more satisfying than clay pigeons and my neighbors cats. (Note to neighbor: I'm kidding. That wasn't me.)

  25. Cryptozoology on Newfound Bacteria Expand Tree of Life · · Score: 1

    Yowie and Bigfoot, you're up next!

    And when they do find Bigfoot, I'm hoping the Bears draft him as a defensive tackle, because he'd make an awesome 3-technique. Assuming he can pass the drug test.