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User: Quantus347

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  1. Because Companies are mistreating their Employees on The Rise Of The Contract Workforce (npr.org) · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The dirty little secret of this trend is that it's happening because the employers increasingly getting away with policies that in past times would have been called mistreatment of their workforce. The American workforce has increasingly moved out of the blue collar industries that had fought long and hard for Regulatory and Union protections, to the comparatively unregulated and unprotected world of white collar drudgery. Things like Union protections and Pension Programs are a things of the past, and loyalty (in either direction) has been entirely removed from the equation.

    The vast majority of people would not cast off the security of a large organization and take on all the risk of going freelance while there are alternative. But increasingly the Companies are asking for more and more from their employees and giving less and less in return, to the point where the Hassle&Restriction of a large organization out weights diminishing expectation of Job Security that is the whole point.

  2. Re:We'll see what happens on Trump Signs Law Forcing Drone Users To Register With Government (thehill.com) · · Score: 1

    Just spoke with some somebody who registered under the FAA system before the judge threw it out, this isnt (or at least wasnt then) a property registry at all. The rule simply required the Operator to register have a registration number and to place that number on any drones they fly. It's so that if the drone ends up somewhere it should not be, like (an airport runway, a prison, or maybe the white-house lawn, authorities have a way to trace it back to it's owner.

    But it is the same Operator number on every drone you fly; the government knows that you are a drone operator, and you you do something illegal they can figure out it was your drone. But they dont know anything about the type or number of drones you have or anything, only that you are flying them, or at least are interested enough to get your name added to the list. And the fee was only something like $5, so we arent talking about a prohibitive monetary barrier.

  3. Re:Why? on Vice President Pence Vows US Astronauts Will Return To the Moon (engadget.com) · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I see three benefits:

    1) Reinvigorate our Space capabilities. Every-shifting politics and evaporating budgets have left pretty far from what we were in our ability to actually field a viable space program. We have no shuttles, we rely on Russian equipment and/or to launch bother personnel and satellites.

    2) Test runs for Mars. All the same challenges of landing a mars mission are present on the Moon, but being so much closer it makes a much better place to test out the systems. If we cant do the moon, a mars trip is suicide. We havent actually tried since the days where the most advanced piece of tech around was a hand-held calculator. It's probably worth trying again with today's tech.

    3) Foundations of Industry. A trip to mars has a bunch of challenges that are specific to inter-planetary missions, while the R&D to get a working lunar base would have much broader and more local applications. I agree that the future of lunar travel is going to be in the private sector, but current private technologies (and current International Law) inhibit that for now. However, private companies working under government contract accomplishes much the same thing, without running afoul of legal implications of ownership and profit generation and whatnot.

  4. Depends..I like the Propeller Chip for multicore on Ask Slashdot: What's The Best Open Source Hardware to Tinker With? · · Score: 1

    It really depends on what you want to accomplish with it. I tend to favor the Parallax Propeller chip as it's inexpensive (~$10) and has eight cores which are great for independent/parallel processes as I see in hobby robotics, and their is an open access repository of functioning code "objects" that offer a surprising amount of advanced functionality. But at the end of the day you will have to code and compile everything in one of a few dedicated languages. On the other end of the spectrum, If I want more actual software-side power up to and including the ability to run a true OS like Linux, Rasbery PI seems to be everyone's Go-To these days, great for embedded systems and the like.

  5. Re:Apparently faulty algorithm? on Amazon 'Reviewing' Its Website After It Suggested Bomb-Making Items (nytimes.com) · · Score: 1

    I think what is freaking people out is that it's all but literally telling you the recipe, and doing so across a pretty wide spread of departments. For example, if you go to buy Red Iron Oxide powder (Common supply for pottery and ceramic hobbyists), it suggests also buying aluminum powder and magnesium ribbons from way over in "Industrial and Scientific," which is all you need to mix and ignite thermite. The worst example was where stump remover suggested you buy the other ingredients for homemade black powder.

  6. Re:Batteries going to 11? on Sony To Boost Smartphone Batteries Because People Aren't Replacing Phones (theguardian.com) · · Score: 2

    Size and Weight. With existing technology higher actual capacity requires more physical space, which is largely counter to the design trend of phones. The more recent focus on larger screens buys them a little wriggle room of that, but the public is still clamoring for Thinner and Lighter.

  7. Re:Maybe Wikileaks is the wrong entity to be angry on WikiLeaks Published Rape Victims' Names, Credit Cards, Medical Data (arstechnica.com) · · Score: 1

    In something like a minor theft or a case of drunken vandalism leading to a disagreement then sure, my expectations would be low for actual action. If I were hospitalized enough for there to be medical records (or raped, as the case was in some of the OP examples) it might warrant escalation, for insurance purposes if nothing else. For that matter, if the theft itself involved me loosing my passport, I expect Id need to get somebody from my government involved to recover proof of identity and be able to go home (Im admittedly not much of a world traveler and don't know offhand what the procedure for that would be). I can't say I'd have high hopes for anything to come of it, Im not expecting Seal Team Six to come and extract me from a hostile land like a bad movie, but that wouldn't necessarily stop me from filing the report and expecting it to be logged in some server/file cabinet back home. And I'd sure hope that all my private information wouldnt be included in some mass information dump by activists whose politics don't involve me. Something as simple and innocuous as a standard form to get a replacement passport would likely include things like my Social Security Number, and that sort of thing getting published can haunt you for years.

  8. Re:Maybe Wikileaks is the wrong entity to be angry on WikiLeaks Published Rape Victims' Names, Credit Cards, Medical Data (arstechnica.com) · · Score: 5, Informative

    Why wouldn't they? If, for example, I was mugged (say, both robbed and say beaten with a stick) in a foreign country, I could fully expect the police report to end up in a diplomatic transmission, which would include the stolen identity/credit card information as well as the medical records that described my injuries. Crimes against foreign nationals would often go though the State Department and whatever equivalent the other nation had.

    I dont know the circumstances of all the cases described in these cases, but there are plenty of reasonable and legal reasons for a government body to have that information that does not involve Big Brother spying.

  9. Re:If I thought it would help... on Ask Slashdot: Should The DHS Designate Elections As Critical Infrastructure? (politico.com) · · Score: 2

    It remains to be seen whether the DHS would actually be the ones administering things. They're able to make the classification, and they'd have the opportunity to take on the actual administration if they so chose, but it's at least as likely that they'd designate/create some new government body to do the actual work for a couple reasons.

    1)Odds are the TSA has left a bad taste in the mouths of the upper brass of the DHS, so they may not be as eager to jump into things as they once might have. Better to assign the job to some other branch cabinet branch so that if things go as badly it's not on them directly.
    2)This is less a matter of security than it is coordination and Standard, developing federal regulations to replace the hodge-podge of State and local level elections boards that currently all do things their own way; it's more akin to OSHA than to the TSA or Border Security.

    And that, in my opinion is why it's such a great idea: it elevates and standardizes the process, ensuring that everyone's vote is cast and counted the same way nationa-wide, and in theory take steps to provide vital (and often missing) accountability.

  10. Do Professional still serve a purpose? on Suicide Squad Fans Petition To Shut Down Rotten Tomatoes Over Negative Reviews (variety.com) · · Score: 1

    This is a serious question. It seems like they consistently do more harm then good to the box-office of movies in modern times, serving only to spread early negativity and hamper the opening weekend turnout. I understand that once upon a time the film industry needed these curated professionals to have early access to the film to drum up interest and get press in printed media, but in today's world of twitter feeds and social media, I honestly think the film industry would be better served to leave them out of the loop entirely and let the actual target fanbase serve as a first wave of hype-building response. Especially in the case of comic book movies, where you can be fairly sure of a large turnout opening week that is primarily fans already. I, like so many, will go see it regardless, because Im a fan of the existing body of work and want to see for myself how it translates. Good review popping up before opening weekend is in no way going to change that, but a bunch of bad reviews might. It's loose/loose for the studio.

  11. Re:Consciousness is not the same thing as free wil on Neuroscientists Have Isolated The Part Of The Brain That Controls Free Will (extremetech.com) · · Score: 1

    We know the world is not deterministic. That is good, because only in a non-deterministic world free will would be able to arise. Any discussion of free will that does not involve QM is doomed to inconclusiveness.

    Or, you know, Religion...

  12. Re:Consciousness is not the same thing as free wil on Neuroscientists Have Isolated The Part Of The Brain That Controls Free Will (extremetech.com) · · Score: 1

    You are talking about Incompatibilism and the notion of Free Will as constrained by Hard Determinism (aka Physics/Destiny/God's Plan). They are using the term more on the Compatiblism side, where the key part of Free Will has more to do with the Choices made by an individual based on their own internal motivations (absent external hindrances from individuals and/or institutions). It's one of the more sticky aspects of the philosophic debate of Free Will, because folks often arent operating on the same definition. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

  13. Re:Android version on Pokemon Go Was Never Able To Read Your Email (gizmodo.com) · · Score: 1

    The patch that hit this afternoon appears to have added push notifications to the mix, so that may alleviate the issue somewhat.

    The wristwatch Pokemon Go Plus has a button on it so that (supposedly) you can catch them, activate Pokestops, etc without having to interact with your phone at all.

    Granted, it does seem like the sort of function that would be right smack in the wheelhouse of a Smartwatch, so hopefully they release a smartwatch app to mimic it. But for those of us that like the function but dont want to drop the cash for an actual smartwatch, a $35 dedicated device isnt entirety useless.

  14. It has Officially been Patched. on Pokemon Go Was Never Able To Read Your Email (gizmodo.com) · · Score: 1

    The first patch went live about a hour ago, and included a fix to the Google Account scope.

    http://www.popsci.com/pokemon-...

  15. Re:This story is garbage on Pokemon Go Was Never Able To Read Your Email (gizmodo.com) · · Score: 1

    Not sure they have that freedom. This was only an issue on the iOS version, not the Android version, and Im assuming that iOS has a different relationship with Google Product permissions. And while Niantic started off as an internal Google startup project, they've since been spun off as their own entity. The change would have to be on Google's side. That being said, your are right in that all of this could have easily been avoided if Google had more accurately named the Permission level, and given a more detailed description of what it could and could not grant to a 3rd party app in it's Help/FAQ.

  16. Re:Found landmarks in buildings on Cops Warn Pokemon Go Players: Please Don't Trespass To Catch 'em All (arstechnica.com) · · Score: 2

    Found one that was a nice mural...in the drive through lane of a Wine&Spirits convenience store...

    "I'd like a 5th of Jack and three Pokeballs, please"

  17. Re:A much more serious problem... on Cops Warn Pokemon Go Players: Please Don't Trespass To Catch 'em All (arstechnica.com) · · Score: 1

    Fortunately the only underage children I've come across playing it were with their mother, who was also playing. She's actually the one that struck up the conversation. It probably helped that we were in the parking lot of the local police station, which has 3 Pokestops (all had Lures going) so a crowd of us were camped and feeling relatively safe.

  18. Re:I don't understand these warnings. on Cops Warn Pokemon Go Players: Please Don't Trespass To Catch 'em All (arstechnica.com) · · Score: 3, Informative

    There is a "Nearby" readout that tells you what's close, and it operates on a 0-3 footprint scale. It's essentially a hot/cold game, so you can triangulate enough to work out the proper direction and relative distance until it does actually appear. There is also the fact that they appear in close to the same spot for everyone (within a certain time window) so if somebody else spotted one down a given dark alley, odds are you will too.

  19. Re:Red Herrings on Pokemon Go Was Never Able To Read Your Email (gizmodo.com) · · Score: 1

    They are conspiring with Boeing, McDonalds, and the Illuminati to further their Chemtrail program!

  20. Re:iOS? Google account? on Pokemon Go Was Never Able To Read Your Email (gizmodo.com) · · Score: 3, Informative

    When you first log in you can sign in with either your Google/Gmail account, or else create an app-specific "Pokemon Trainer Club" log-in. Presumably doing the latter would not grant any Google Account access

  21. Re:Android version on Pokemon Go Was Never Able To Read Your Email (gizmodo.com) · · Score: 2

    The bluetooth connection is required to use the Pokemon Go Plus notifier hardware/wristband that is currently sold out of all suppliers.

    https://www.amazon.com/Nintend...

  22. A Google Company can access your Google Data! on Pokemon Go Was Never Able To Read Your Email (gizmodo.com) · · Score: 1

    ...and everyone looses their minds.

    This is probably a Joker meme by now...

  23. Re:This story is garbage on Pokemon Go Was Never Able To Read Your Email (gizmodo.com) · · Score: 4, Informative

    The App had more access than they needed or intended, and more than the Android equivalent. However, it did not have the capabilities that were originally reported. The original blog post that started this sh#t-storm stated that the app could things like "Read all your email, Send email as you, Access all your Google drive documents (including deleting them)[...]" none of which was ever true. The blogger further admitted he'd never actually worked with the google permissions or tested this, and was just inferring (read: being a bit of an alarmist) based on a general description from the Google help page.

    So yes, the iOS version of the App can do more than it needs to, and that permissions discrepancy has been added to the long list of things that need to be fixed on this still very young and rather buggy game. But No, the App could never do much of what it was being accused of doing.

  24. Re:Hulu offers No Ads for a 50% fee markup on 74% of Netflix Subscribers Would Rather Cancel Their Subscription Than See Ads (allflicks.net) · · Score: 1

    Fair enough. Ive always had the impression that Netflix gets the seasons around the same time that the DVD box-set hits the market, which may account for some of the delay. The other part, Im sure, is to drum up added interest in the show's inbound season by getting people hooked with the past episode.

  25. Re:Hulu offers No Ads for a 50% fee markup on 74% of Netflix Subscribers Would Rather Cancel Their Subscription Than See Ads (allflicks.net) · · Score: 1

    Netflix only gets complete seasons, and often only in the fall just before the new season begins airing, so you are most of a year behind. Hulu gets each episode the morning after they air.