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Comments · 268

  1. Re:Good. on 'Iceman' Gets 13 Years For 2nd Hacking Offense · · Score: 1

    Which is why banks have to cover losses in some instances.

  2. Re:For those who didn't RTFA on Bill Gates Responds To Apple iPad · · Score: 1

    I think Siri will be the killer app. I tried that thing on an iPhone 3G, and I've never seen voice recognition work as well. As it improves and becomes more useful, it might just replace the keyboard for most tasks on the iPad. If Apple is smart, they'll buy the company up so that it really differentiates the iPad from other devices.

  3. Re:Compare to cease and desist notices on FCC Inquires About Controversial Verizon Fees · · Score: 1

    I wish that were true. I suppose it might be different for some departments, but no matter how many hours I work in a week, I get the same salary. If I put in 70 hours one week, I get paid for 40.

  4. Re:Need to start over on Scientific Journal Nature Finds Nothing Notable In CRU Leak · · Score: 1

    If it is done independently, then we don't need to rely on the old work. Anything done from scratch would be valid, assuming it could be replicated. And I think if there is still contention over an area of science, we should apply the principle generally.

  5. Re:Compare to cease and desist notices on FCC Inquires About Controversial Verizon Fees · · Score: 1

    Government attorneys are sunk costs and not paid by the hour. There are opportunity costs to suing someone, but there is negligible outlay of additional funds.

  6. Need to start over on Scientific Journal Nature Finds Nothing Notable In CRU Leak · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    First, these guys are assholes who should never work again. That does not mean, however, that their work is incorrect. The problem is that everyone is working at two or three levels removed. Stop trying to analyze the source code. None of their theories is scientific unless we can replicate the tests. Write new source code to map whatever raw data is still around. If that comes to similar conclusions, then maybe the harm is minimal. (The harm to science as an institution is great, I think, at least in the mind of the public.). If it comes to wildly different conclusions, then we can work from there. Any work that is based on data no longer available should not be considered valid.

  7. Re:seems reasonable on Microsoft Files "Emergency Motion" To Ship Word · · Score: 1

    The injury is to the plaintiff, not Microsoft. MS is probably arguing that any harm to the plaintiff is not irreparable, and that later monetary damages will cure any harm.

  8. Re:Best of a bad idea on "Cash For Clunkers" Program Runs Out of Gas · · Score: 1

    Because small businesses are notorious for stuffing money into mattresses. If you want to encourage spending, there needs to be a stable tax plan. But threats of higher taxes in the short and long term, threats of new regulations and restrictions keeps people from investing. Why am I going to buy bonds when I know the government might screw with the system and limit my returns. Worse yet, why am I going to buy bonds when the gov't is going to come in and make sure I get nothing--see, GM.

  9. Re:Wow on "Cash For Clunkers" Program Runs Out of Gas · · Score: 1

    I'd be willing to wager that you aren't giving people money back. I pay taxes, and am not eligible for the program. Since we are closing in on less than half the population paying taxes, I bet at least some of the people taking advantage of the program don't pay taxes, or at least pay less than $4,500. It is redistribution.

  10. Best of a bad idea on "Cash For Clunkers" Program Runs Out of Gas · · Score: 1

    Subsidizing new cars isn't a great idea. The government is still moving money around, which is inefficient. Its like moving energy-there is some loss for administration at the least. When the government does it, they have to raise taxes, which creates disincentives on the margin. This ends up being another bailout for the auto industry as well. If the industry really needs all of the money we are giving them, we should have let them collapse and move all of that capital to places where it would actually do some good. But, if we are going to do the whole stimulus thing, and we aren't going to cut taxes like we should, then this seems like a marginally acceptable way to do it.

  11. Thanks again, /. on Company Awarded "The Patent For Podcasting" · · Score: 4, Insightful

    for making me click through to get to the actual patent. Anyway, from reading some of the patent, it looks like they were trying to patent something at least somewhat interesting and unique. However, claim 1--the only independent claim--pretty clearly covers iTunes, among other prior art. I am not sure if it was bad drafting or bad intent, but I would not bring this to Apple's attention if I were the company. I've read some patent applications were the value added was miniscule, and the only way to see it is to look at some of the prosecution history. Maybe that's the case here, but I am too lazy to dig through the history. With a filing date of 2003, I doubt this will survive much scrutiny. That sucks if this company was trying to do something interesting. That's great if they are trolling.

  12. Re:Well I for one on The Battle Between Google and Facebook · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The problem is that the target isn't you, or the general slashdot audience. It is the advertisers, and they are interested in easily suggestible numbers. The more people, and the more suggestible, the better. Facebook also seems better targeted to guiding people to what they didn't know they needed-the advertisers' best friend. I think control of the Internet in this sense means control of advertising dollars. Like you, I'm going to stick with Google and discount anything I see on Facebook. But like you, I am in the minority. The real question is what the majority of people on the Internet will do.

  13. Re:Green Car on a Budget - Innovation Not Required on Tesla Nabs $465M Government Loan To Build Model S · · Score: 1

    You do realize that your post contains internal contradictions, in addition to misstated facts? The American car companies would love to live on high margin cars, such as pick-ups and SUV's, but they are forced by CAFE standards and two-fleet rules to make small, cheap cars in the US. That screws with profit margins. Ford is the top selling car company in England, and GM is tops in China. Until recently, Chrysler was a German company. Things aren't as clear as you imply. And, if Americans bought whatever was cheapest, then they would buy the American cars. They don't, however. Look at sales figures-the cheapest cars are never near the top.

  14. Re:What are the lawyers thinking? on In Round 2, Jammie Thomas Jury Awards RIAA $1,920,000 · · Score: 1

    If there isn't a new trial, what did her attorneys preserve for appeal? Anything? Was there an objection to the jury instructions?

  15. Re:Reading comprehension on Supreme Court Declines Case Over Techs' Right To Search Your PC · · Score: 1

    The police seizing evidence illegally is different than a private party doing so. The case you linked to does not stand for what you are asserting it for.

  16. Re:just tax carbon on The Great Ethanol Scam · · Score: 1

    When you drive, you don't pay the full price of driving. The damage you do to the environment is unaccounted for. This is an example of market failure. The government imposes a tax roughly equal to the damage you do through polluting. Then, you are paying the full cost for your activities. Since you now have better information, or better yet, are forced to take into account all of that information, you make different decisions in the market place. That is how a tax would allow the market to decide.

  17. just tax carbon on The Great Ethanol Scam · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Stop the subsidies, tax carbon to account for externalities, and then let the market decide. The negative effects of biofuels have been on display ever since the Dutch dropped palm oil. Instead of the government pushing this obviously failed product, they should make sure that consumers bear the entire cost of their decisions and let companies develop a way to reduce fossil fuel consumption. And less biofuels means the price of my beer goes down, dammit! Won't someone think of my beer?

  18. Re:contrary on Palm Kills Community Before It Begins · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Not all companies are motivated purely by profit--that's just the legal default. There are entire classes of corporations dedicated to things other than making money--non-profits, for instance. Even for profit companies, such as Google.org, can have goals other than profit maximization, as long as they specify those goals in their by-laws. I am unsure that purely profit motivated companies are even the majority, as it seems every student has a non-profit registered these days. For profit are definitely the largest by market cap, though, as people generally donate money to non-profits, and invest money in for-profits.

  19. Re:Maximizing short term or long term profits on Palm Kills Community Before It Begins · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Very true, and I wish more large shareholders--pension plans, for example--would do so. The problem is when a majority shareholder wants a large, short term profit and pressures the company to maximize short term value. The board can hide behind the business judgement rule, but then the shareholder will replace them with someone who will maximize profits in the short term.

  20. Re:contrary on Palm Kills Community Before It Begins · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Bond holders lend money to a company; shareholders own part of the company. Since the shareholders own the company, the board and CEO work for the shareholders. That is why they must maximize shareholder value. Then the shareholders can take the money they make and spend it how they like. Saying a corporation is evil is a silly, populist gloss over the way things work. Corporations are neither good nor evil. The people who own them are. Corporations maximize shareholder value, and then we, as shareholders, determine whether that value is used for good or for evil. Sorry- not all of that was directed at you, just the definitional part at the beginning.

  21. Roper? on Calif. Petitions Supreme Court On Violent Video Game Bill · · Score: 1

    Bringing in a case about the death penalty is an interesting tactic. I'm surprised he didn't use a school speech case, as they seem to be more on point. Oh well, hope he loses regardless.

  22. Re:Beyond Simple, just apply common sense! on McDonalds Free Wi-Fi Users Soak Up Seating · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Really? If you can't be more sympathetic than that, why would you think anyone would be sympathetic to your views? And as far as the manners thing goes, kettle meet pot.

  23. Re:Headline is inaccurate on NY Court Says Police Can't Track Suspect With GPS · · Score: 1

    There is no assurance they will be charged with a felony, especially if they give the police evidence on you. You can sue for the civil equivalent without the DA's say so. Thus, it is more important to look at what would happen in the face of a civil charge.

  24. Re:Headline is inaccurate on NY Court Says Police Can't Track Suspect With GPS · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    No, that's not true. If someone gets evidence, and then submits it to the police--or the police discover it while investigating the PI--it's probably coming in. I am not aware of evidence being excluded as a remedy for a private civil violation. Maybe some states have laws that work in that way, but it isn't the way the federal system works. If your buddy steals your drugs and turns them over to the cops without pre-arrangement with the cops, the drugs are probably coming in. In fact, I think there is case law out there in the context of hacking-someone can hack your computer and then turn the evidence over to the police. Yes, you can sue the hacker for the crime, but the evidence he found is likely coming in to convict you.

  25. Re:defense approach difference? on NY Court Says Police Can't Track Suspect With GPS · · Score: 1

    Neither article says, but based on the language quoted, it was probably the Fourth Amendment. If so, there is no reason for a variance among the various courts. If New York, through their state constitution or by statute, has extended the protections provided by the Fourth, then it is hard to compare the cases. However, based on Supreme Court precedent, Wisconsin seems to have the better take on Federal Law. The police can put a beeper on a car, as long as they don't acquire any information they would have had if they tailed you the entire time. A GPS doesn't seem that much different. Of course, there may be additional facts not present in the excerpts that would change that analysis.