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User: flitty

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  1. Even headline is annoyingly "modern" for old story on Fake Gaming Torrents Download Unwanted Apps Instead of Popular Games (helpnetsecurity.com) · · Score: 2

    They're not Unwanted "APPS", they're malware. You don't need to call everything an App. This story reads like someone who just found out that "unsubscribing" from spam is a bad idea. Also, you've got to be pretty, pretty dumb to run a 3.5 MB .exe file that calls itself "Witcher 3". Like, that's beginner level internet surfing 101.

  2. Re:Bad headline: "Its News Operation"? on Internal Docs Show Human Intervention at Almost Every Stage Of Facebook's News Operation (theguardian.com) · · Score: 0

    Of course the story is that according to Slashdot internal documents, their newsfeed is now written by "Alpha Go", just copy-pasting from the original story or submittal, and adding a couple sentences of gibberish and a nonsense headline. We're all abandoned here on this ghost ship.

  3. Once upon a time, /. was the place to go for news like this, and the comments would all talk about the technical aspects of this story and dissect the claims to show if they're credible. So much of this story is technically, uh, dubious, yet many people here are blinded by their political leanings (both sides) that they are willing to accept an unverified report like this.

  4. Re:Let's get this straight... on Slashdot Asks: Is the Golden Era of Video-Game Console Sales Over? · · Score: 1

    See this chart about lifetime sales, and how the PS4 is selling at a faster rate than the PS2 did. http://2zeobl3ojpj43evvq11p5yo...

  5. Re:Splitscreen's decline can be explained on Splitscreen Gaming Is a Culture, Not a Mode · · Score: 1

    All of my Halo friends now have kids, and used the Halo series to play video games with their kids. It was one of the few cross-generational games that both groups truly enjoyed (you can only play so many Lego games before they're all the same). Now, they're all skipping Halo 5 because that tradition of split-screen coop has been killed. Visual fidelity and lighting effects don't mean squat if you can't play games with your kids anymore.

    Halo's trying after the COD fanbase (see multiplayer changes that focus on tournament style play), but forgetting about the things that made Halo so friendly to "filthy FPS casuals".

  6. Re:"equal treatment" on WA Bill Takes Aim at Boys' Dominance In Computer Classes · · Score: 1

    A surprisingly large number of liberal causes depend on the principle of equal treatment.

    Liberals are for equal outcomes, not equal opportunities.

    Conservatives are for equal treatment. For instance, a law against sleeping on the sidewalk should be enforced equally on both millionaires and homeless vagrants.

    Well, conservative you should be cheering for this bill then, since it only provides money based on a competative bid process that shows there's a need for an under-represented group to get some cash for that group to learn CS, train teachers in CS, or buy equipment.

  7. Re:This thread will be a sewer of misogyny on WA Bill Takes Aim at Boys' Dominance In Computer Classes · · Score: 1

    They don't have to be, and the bill doesn't say they have to be either. The bill provides grant money for programs that reach out to underrepresented groups who usually have less exposure to CS. There are a few poor, majority white schools in my area that don't have CS classes at all, in 2015. This grant money could be provided to them, if they can prove the need more than other districts that apply for the grant. Once again, internet comments confusing equal access with quotas, which often happens in these debates.

  8. This article should die a horrible death on Three-Way Comparison Shows PCs Slaying Consoles In Dragon Age Inquisition · · Score: 3, Insightful

    How many console generations and Comparison videos do we have to write this type of article about before it stops being a thing? Breaking news everyone, a $400 piece of hardware cannot compete with hardware that has no upper price limit. The interesting thing is that I spent $500 on a PC a year ago and I ended up with hardware very close to the PS4. Guess what? The PS4 actually runs my games ever so slightly better on the PS4 than my "cheap" PC. This could be due to Console optimization, or my PC's optimization, or any other number of factors. They're different things for different purposes.

  9. Re:Massive conspiracy on IRS Lost Emails of 6 More Employees Under Investigation · · Score: 2

    I think you overestimate the IRS's technological position. Several of my friends work at the IRS (low level IT grunts), and their security plan seems to consist of "security through obsolescence", using many outdated programs for most of their daily work.

  10. Re:MSRP of subscription MMOs on Wretched Ride: PS4 Driveclub Game Rental Tied To Paid Subscription · · Score: 2

    Nearly all MMO's have required a purchase of $60 with a free month included. Newer "Free-to-play" MMO's are usually offered for free to download, but have very heavy restrictions on what you can do, much like this Driveclub thing.

  11. Re:Quid pro quo here. on Mozilla CEO Firestorm Likely Violated California Law · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Sorry, False equivalency alert going off here. Donating to a single campaign for a single purpose (Prop 8) is different than donating to a politician. If you want to buy support of a politician on a single issue, it doesn't mean you endorse every single thing they've ever said or done.

  12. Re:Easy solution on How Deadbeat Facebook Friends and Using ALL-CAPS Can Lower Your Credit Score · · Score: 1

    What does it say that I'm still trying to figure out who has the good financial status in that scenario?

  13. Do not want. on Elon Musk's New Hologram Project Invites 'Iron Man' Comparisons · · Score: 4, Insightful

    As someone who does this for a living, let me tell you that Elon Musk is a idea guy, not a user. These guys are a dime a dozen and often see things like iPads and flashy technology as "the future", but in implementation, they miss out on things like Ease of User Input, and Long term use strain. A spaceball and a mouse are about the best you can get for 3d space navigation for long periods of time, which is how the people who actually build this stuff use it daily.

    You can see this yourself if you want to do a little accuracy experiment. Take your mouse and move it a pixel. Now, take your hand, hold it in the air, and move your hand that same amount without the help of friction on the table or the mouse to rest your hand on. Even if LeapMotion and other 3d space tracking systems were that accurate, it's not an optimal setup for actually doing work, due to strain and other issues. Now, I don't often need single pixel-accuracy, but 4-5 pixel accuracy is needed more often than you think.

    Elon Musk sits in a "end item" meeting where the final design is 3d modeled and displayed on a screen, and pictorial representation of that model is manipulated using leap motion. Great. But actual engineering design work done this way? He's dreaming. Or, he's just talking about using Leap Motion et al tied to a CAD program, in which case... Who cares? He's not the first, and he's certainly not a visionary on the subject.

  14. Re:Nicely done on Silent Circle Follows Lavabit By Closing Encrypted E-mail Service · · Score: 5, Insightful

    1. Force shutdown of US based communications companies for non-compliance with PRISM.
    2. Suddenly, all commucation is "foreign".
    3. All communications are now collectible without any oversight.

  15. Re:Well that validates the 'weasel word' disclaime on WA Post Publishes 4 More Slides On Data Collection From Google, Et Al · · Score: 1

    Exactly! Every time I read about this story, the worst parts of the surveillance is not supported by the evidence shown either on the slides, and look like sloppy, extraordinary claims. I'd love to see the evidence that supports the claims that FISC doesn't review individual collection requests, which could mean each incident of collection (event) or "I"ndividual collection requests, meaning that a FISA warrant could grab a group of people based on FISC approved criteria.

    I really do want to see this evidence, but the more I read of this story the more I think that most of the claims that the Post and Guardian are making are a misunderstanding of what their sources are actually telling them.

  16. Re:Time to petition? But this time... on Futurama Cancelled (Again) · · Score: 1

    My wife and I are some of the few people out there who love Bob's Burgers. But, then again, I was a big Home Movies fan as well, which always had more cult status than actual success. When Bob's Burgers is "on", it's funnier than nearly any other show out there.

    I mean, a science fair project that is a musical between Thomas Edison and the elephant he electrocuted... How is that not hilarious?

  17. Re:So which field of engineering on Bill "The Science Guy" Nye Says Creationism Is Not Appropriate For Children · · Score: 2

    The point is Akin is using pseudoscience (and a religiously focused "doctor") to support his religious belief about abortion. His religious beliefs dictate his view, in direct contradiction to scientific facts, which is the problem that the video is addressing.

  18. Re:So which field of engineering on Bill "The Science Guy" Nye Says Creationism Is Not Appropriate For Children · · Score: 2

    It doesn't, and that's not what Nye is saying either. He's saying that your religious beliefs that directly dispute scientific facts makes you part of the less educated populace who makes decisions and vote in ways that are illogical.

    Todd Akin's religious beliefs (and the loony doctor he listens to) makes him bad at understanding reproductive systems, and therefore bad at his job.

    You and your old professor just got lucky that the bible is fairly quiet on missile systems and superstrings.

  19. Re:"Gat Back"? When did you start? on Hurricane Could Make a Mess of Republican Convention · · Score: 5, Informative

    You don't get debates from liberals because you make stuff up. Dems only had a supermajority in the senate for four months, most of which were in recess. The republicans have used the filibuster (or threatened to fillabuster) nearly every bill, basically negating the majority. http://washingtonindependent.com/74033/the-four-month-supermajority Federal spending rose at anywhere between 3.2-5%, a rate below average, and if you start measuring the rate from October 2009, spending has been the slowest in 60 years http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/20/us/politics/fact-checking-obama-and-romney.html?pagewanted=all Oil drilling and fraking has been approved at a faster rate under obama than Bush II. (fraking due to technology). http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2012/03/obama-oil-drilling-up-on-my-watch/1

  20. Re:NBC deserves it. on US Viewers Using Proxies To Watch BBC Olympic Coverage · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I cannot even watch the tape delay coverage, mostly because it goes like this "And then the Chinese had this particular event, which turned out better than they ever could have expected with a near perfect execution.." and then they preceed to show the event which they just ruined the outcome of, to the point where they were pointing out "this upcoming trick had near perfect execution". I understand having a tape delay for prime time, but most olympic events are fun to watch because the outcome is unknown and so dramatic. If you're telling me the outcome before the event, it's ruined.

  21. Re:Dear Bioware on Star Wars: The Old Republic Adding Free-To-Play Option In November · · Score: 1

    If this game really is fully free (no initial cost), It is very much worth playing through with at least one class to level 50 if you're looking for Kotor 3. I'm sorry you can't pause combat, but the actual story and gameplay felt very kotor3, and was awesome until you ran out of story. There was one dungeon around level 30 that should be played by every kotor fan.

  22. Re:Hmmmm, yeah on Facebook Loses Users, Satisfaction Higher at Google+ · · Score: 5, Insightful

    FB's failing is due to it's users, mostly. About 3-6 months ago, everyone decided that pictures with text on them is all they were going to post. Or food pictures, or Spotify playlists.

    Facebook was never awesome, but it did have a lot of my friends and family posting interesting discussions and information. Then everyone ran out of things to say, so now they just post funny pictures.

    A lot of this isn't just users fault though, many issues arise out of the lack of Grouping, which is something G+ fixes and is awesome at. I don't want my pictures of partying being shown to employers, or my neices and nephews which causes issues with my conservative siblings. Sorting what information I want to send to select groups easily is the main reason I wish people were using G+.

  23. Re:This is a bit too much on Microsoft Files Patents for Virtual Game Controller · · Score: 1

    No kidding. Catan is more fun when you get to tweak the rules to your liking. We play a variant where you play explorers, starting with some basic goods and flipping over tiles as you go. It leads to very uneven games where one player wins quickly, but it's still lots of fun, and keeps people interested in playing, rather than the standard variant where one person can pull ahead early and then the game isn't fun while you sit with no ability to even play the few cards you get. We also never play with the robber, too much direct conflict for most groups. 7 Rolls you just give half your cards to the person who rolled seven, instead of discarding them. Anyway, enough of this tangent...

    Boardgames will always be better without a digital babysitter making sure you play by the rules

  24. Re:Depends on what you mean by using the range on The Problem With Metacritic · · Score: 1

    Grades make the most sense for game reviews for me, or, put another way, converting a star system to grades is the best way to think of it. 0-star = 0-59%, 1 star = 60-69%, 2 star = 70-79%, 3 star = 80-89%, 4 star= 90-100%

    I find it very important to think of games this way because technical incompetence (much like failing comprehension or ability with grades) is such a large part of gaming. There needs to be that large bottom half of the scale to allow for certain technical failures, which render the game "broken". A game that doesn't work for several reasons, no matter how great the story or graphics, gets a failing grade due to it being broken. It might get a High F for effort, but it still fails the fundementals. This is different from Filmmaking or movies, where no matter how technically competent the images you put on the screen, the movie will play and you'll see the movie. You (the filmmaker) cannot fail to show what you meant to show. Games, OTOH, can have technical issues that prevent you from seeing the game. This also makes meta-reviews less meaningful, because technical issues for one person might not appear for another, drastically increasing the stddev for reviews.

  25. Re:Is it still a scam? on Ouya Android Console Blows Past Kickstarter Goal · · Score: 3, Informative

    There's two flip-out reactions about this console 1) It's a Kickstarter scam to steal money and always be vaporware or 2) It's an underpowered box that will be laughed out of the market because It's so underpowered and stupid that any Phone will be better than this box by the time it's released and AAA developers won't make any games for it.

    Gamers are notorious armchair analysts who usually have no idea what they're talking about. (See: Xbox360 vs PS3 hardware power arguments when they were launched) Gamers should be cautious, mostly due to Kickstarter's sketchyness, but I don't see why this Kickstarter is any more suspect than other Kickstarters.