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Comment Re:A virtuous Perl programmer (Score 2) 192

I completely agree with this comment. I'm currently on a project where the Architect is super impressed that there is an excel style chart I coded up in Java solely because he understands the excel-style table and chart and can speak to it in front of his boss. But a ton of work I did writing some machine learning to detect and display faults in a heat map flew him into a rage of criticism and anger... because to him heat maps are only used for financial data and "not applicable here". He even argued about the color red and green! In my experience, people only appreciate what they understand. And so I have resorted to finding communities where my work is appreciated. No use trying to impress the wrong (uninformed) person. What boggles my mind is how this guy became a Senior Architect in the organization when his appreciation for creativity and considering an alternate point of view is so low.

Comment The System is Corrupt (Score 1) 216

If the government can claim that it's okay to record people in "public" (pun intended) without any concern for their privacy, so why is it not okay for this woman to record a cop? Such refusal to be video taped insinuates that something fishy was going on. If that cop didn't have anything to hide what's the problem with recording the incident.

Last month, the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals said citizens may videotape police officers performing their duties unless an officer orders them to disperse or stop recording for legitimate safety reasons. In its unanimous ruling, the court rejected arguments by Weare officers that they should be immune from liability, under a theory that allows government officials to make reasonable mistakes that do not violate clearly established constitutional rights or state laws.

So if I claimed a made a reasonable mistake, would the same immunity be granted to me (an unwashed, private citizen)?

Submission + - Feds charge businessman with selling painkillers on Silk Road (orlandosentinel.com)

An anonymous reader writes: Federal prosecutors in Orlando say the chief technology officer of a Texas company was illegally selling painkillers on the Silk Road website and was among the top vendors on the now-defunct drug marketplace. Matthew Verran Jones, who works for Data Paradigm Inc. in Dallas, has been charged with illegally distributing a controlled substance on Silk Road as well as outside the website. According to a recently unsealed criminal complaint filed in Orlando, Jones, 44, opened a Silk Road account in April 2013 and used the alias "CALIGIRL." Since then, CALIGIRL made 685 sales. The profile was among the top 5 percent of all Silk Road vendors, the complaint said.

Submission + - After the Sun (Microsystems) Sets, the Real Stories Come Out (ieee.org)

Tekla Perry writes: Former Sun executives and employees gathered in Mountain View, Calif., in May, and out came the "real" stories. Andy Bechtolsheim reports that Steve Jobs wasn't the only one who set out to copy the Xerox Parc Alto; John Gage wonders why so many smart engineers couldn't figure out that it would have been better to buy tables instead of kneepads for the folks doing computer assembly; Vinod Khosla recalls the plan to "rip-off Sun technology;" and more.

Submission + - Ford's Bringing Adaptive Steering To The Masses

cartechboy writes: Most automakers have made the jump from hydraulic power steering to electronic power steering to help conserve fuel. By using an electric motor instead of a hydraulic system, less energy is drawn from the engine. Many luxury automakers have also introduced adaptive steering with the electronic power steering systems, but now Ford is looking to bring this feature to the masses. Adaptive steering builds on the existing speed-sensitive function of the electronic power steering system by altering the steering ratio and effort based on driver inputs and settings. The system uses a precision-controlled actuator placed inside the steering wheel. It's an electric motor and gearing system that can essentially add or subtract from the driver's steering inputs. This will make the vehicle easier to maneuver at low speeds, and make a vehicle feel more stable at high speeds. The system will be offered on certain Ford vehicles within the next 12 months.

Submission + - What Inspired You To Start Hacking?

An anonymous reader writes: This is a question that Jennifer Steffen, IOActive CEO, often asks hackers she meets on conferences around the world. More often than not, the answer is movies: War Games, Hackers, The Matrix, and so on. But today, it is the real life hacking that is inspiring the movies of tomorrow. "Hackers are doing epic stuff," she says, and they are now inspiring movies and comics. So, what makes a good hacker?

Comment Re:Any slap on the wrist for the CIA? (Score 4, Insightful) 126

Sure... but when you have an enemy that calls innocent people dying as "collateral damage" and when they show no restraint with drone attacks and midnight raids, it is quite fearful for the local population to be very afraid of getting vaccinated because are you getting a real Doctor/Health care worker or are you getting into a CIA database where one day you will be killed? It doesn't help that one the other side you have the Taliban who now target *all* health care workers as working for the enemy... to the detriment of the poor people.

The CIA has the big brains, the big budget and they may have gotten the 1 person they wanted, but the misery they brought to many people, many children at that, does not justify the means. They did much evil in that case and it will cause hurt to many.

Is even a slap on the wrist not warranted for the CIA?
I don't even want to start with the other things the US Government has done in the "homeland" such as the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiments on African-Americans.

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

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