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Comment Re: You must be new here (Score 1) 1839

"The real bitch I've had about Slashdot is the article choices."

+1 Agree. In the past (few?) years it's become obvious that the editors were selecting political articles with not much news for nerds but lots of red team/blue team thread wars. I would not be sad to see that category of articles go and never return.

Comment Re:How Much? (Score 1) 232

"Universities, research companies, EMR vendors, and biotech firms using big data analysis to perform studies will consider this granularity a godsend..."

-1 Disagree

It will be a godsend only if you happen to worship a particularly cruel and vengeful god. The data that's collected is going to be absolute s**t outside of a few 1000 commonly used (and reimbursed) codes. (Which is going to vary wildly among providers and insurers.) Everything else is going to be filled with errors and statistical outliers and the real white whales you're searching for are going to be buried invisibly in those commonly used codes.

Comment Re:Sucked into jet engine, subsequent encounter (Score 1) 232

No the real benefit is going to be in scamming the system. A coding system this ridiculous is ripe for abuse. Surely there are many companies right now figuring out exactly how to plausibly code almost any mundane injury so that it generates the maximum reimbursement for the provider. Of course, as insurers get wise to the scam they'll change the rates for the scammed codes forcing the scam to move to another code and screwing the 1:1,000,000 people who actually did fall off their water skis while burning.

It will be a never-ending chase through the 10's of 1000's of useless codes.

And people wonder why health care costs so much.

Robotics

Robot-Staffed Japanese Hotel Opens 56

jfruh writes: The front desk is staffed by a female android in a white tunic. The bellhop is a mechanical velociraptor. A giant robot arm put luggage into cubbyholes. It's the Henn-na Hotel in Nagasaki and it's opening this Friday, and it's a place where 'basically guests will see only robots, not humans,' according to general manager Masahiko Hayasaka.

Comment Re:Great. (Score 1) 391

The parent post said: "There is no way to prevent 3D printers and CNC mills from being manufactured."

A true but unhelpful statement. My point was to look at how printers, copiers, scanners, and even image editing software have been modified to deter counterfeiting:

http://www.rulesforuse.org/pub...

It's not a stretch to imagine the same sort of restrictions being mandated for 3D printers and CNC machines.

Comment Re:Rights vs immunity of Fair Use Defense. (Score 1) 172

Then you may find the information at this link helpful: https://instagram.com/about/le...

Interesting excerpts:

"By accessing or using the Instagram website, the Instagram service, or any applications (including mobile applications) made available by Instagram (together, the "Service"), however accessed, you agree to be bound by these terms of use ("Terms of Use"). The Service is owned or controlled by Instagram, LLC ("Instagram"). These Terms of Use affect your legal rights and obligations. If you do not agree to be bound by all of these Terms of Use, do not access or use the Service. ...
Rights

1. Instagram does not claim ownership of any Content that you post on or through the Service. Instead, you hereby grant to Instagram a non-exclusive, fully paid and royalty-free, transferable, sub-licensable, worldwide license to use the Content that you post on or through the Service, subject to the Service's Privacy Policy, available here http://instagram.com/legal/pri..., including but not limited to sections 3 ("Sharing of Your Information"), 4 ("How We Store Your Information"), and 5 ("Your Choices About Your Information"). You can choose who can view your Content and activities, including your photos, as described in the Privacy Policy. ...
5. The Service contains content owned or licensed by Instagram ("Instagram Content"). Instagram Content is protected by copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret and other laws, and, as between you and Instagram, Instagram owns and retains all rights in the Instagram Content and the Service. You will not remove, alter or conceal any copyright, trademark, service mark or other proprietary rights notices incorporated in or accompanying the Instagram Content and you will not reproduce, modify, adapt, prepare derivative works based on, perform, display, publish, distribute, transmit, broadcast, sell, license or otherwise exploit the Instagram Content."

AT&T

AT&T Bills Elderly Customer $24,298.93 For Landline Dial-Up Service 234

McGruber writes: 83-year-old Woodland Hills, California resident Ron Dorff usually pays $51 a month to AT&T for a landline, which he uses to access the Internet via an old-school, low-speed AOL dial-up subscription.... but then, in March, AT&T sent him a bill for $8,596.57. He called AT&T and their service rep couldn't make heads or tails of the bill, so she said she'd send a technician to his house. None came, so Dorff figured that everything was ok.

Dorff's next monthly bill was for $15,687.64, bringing his total outstanding debt to AT&T, including late fees, to $24,298.93. If he didn't pay by May 8, AT&T warned, his bill would rise to at least $24,786.16. Droff then called David Lazarus, business columnist for the LA Times, who got in touch with AT&T, who wasted little time in deciding it would waive the more than $24,000 in charges.

AT&T spokeshole Georgia Taylor claims Dorff's modem somehow had started dialing a long-distance number when it accessed AOL, and the per-minute charges went into orbit as he stayed connected for hours.

AT&T declined to answer the LA Times questions about why AT&T didn't spot the problem itself and proactively take steps to fix things? AT&T also declined to elaborate on whether AT&T's billing system is capable of spotting unusual charges and, if so, why it doesn't routinely do so.
The Internet

Ask Slashdot: What Features Would You Like In a Search Engine? 276

New submitter nicolas.slusarenko writes Nowadays, there is one dominant search engine in the world among few alternatives. I have the impression that the majority of users think that it is the best possible service that could be made. I am sure that we could have a better search engine. During my spare time I been developing Trokam, an online search engine. I am building this service with the features that I would like to find in a service: respectful of user rights, ad-free, built upon open source software, and with auditable results. Well, those are mine. What features would you like in a search engine?

Comment Re:Politics aside for a moment. (Score 1) 538

Agreed. To me this is the most over-looked/under-discussed angle on this story: the extreme lack of judgement displayed in making this decision isn't a good sign for someone coyly begging us to give her more power.

This wasn't an accident; she very clearly and intentionally made a reckless choice in placing her own personal benefit over the welfare of the nation.

In the end, I think her calculation was that she could make this choice with no consequences for herself and, sadly, I think she will be correct.

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