Comment But there IS already a shortage of bacon! (Score 1) 137
...in my mouth, of course...
Comment Re:./ed (Score 2) 608
I thought I was the only one who saw that Mitt Romney's answer to everything was to bash Obama...about entirely everything else but the question being asked.
I encourage everyone to do themselves a favor: count the number of negative things each candidate has to say and then tally it up.
Comment Re:Personally, I don't see a conflict (Score 1) 1774
Revising the word "day" to mean "period of time" is the linguistic equivalent of "not having sexual relations with that woman."
It's called equivocation, and can be used to turn any words into any other words you desire. If I'm going to pick a book for my creation myth, I'd rather it be one where the human beings aren't taught to be ashamed of sex in the first chapter.
Comment My IQ just dropped 20 points after reading that (Score 1) 283
I've been a software engineer for eighteen years, and this entire article, its opinions and attitudes, are quackery at best. This guy is surely middle-management material, but only if his aspiration is the pointy-haired boss.
The worst part? It's so beyond dumb that I have to break my habit of "live and let live," ignore it and move on, and instead leave a comment on
Google actually hired that guy?
Submission + - SCO Group files Chapter 7 (groklaw.net) 3
rkhalloran writes: The remnants of the failed litigation engine that was SCOX has finally filed for liquidation under Chapter 7 of the bankruptcy code. "There is no hope for rehabilitation". At this point the lawyers will suck the marrow from the carcass and leave the bones to bleach out in the sun.
Submission + - Reports cites highest IT job growth in 4 years (networkworld.com) 1
netbuzz writes: The employment research firm Foote Partners says U.S. labor statistics from last month reveal an increase of some 18,200 jobs in IT, which represents the largest such monthly jump since 2008. "The overall employment situation in the U.S. is lackluster, in fact this is the fifth consecutive month of subpar results," says David Foote, CEO at Foote Partners. "But the fact that more than 18,000 new jobs were created last month for people with significant IT skills and experience — and nearly 57,000 new jobs added in the past three months — is incredibly good news."
Submission + - Bill Gates Says Tablets Aren't Much Help in Education (chronicle.com)
An anonymous reader writes: In a detailed interview on the future of education, Bill Gates was surprisingly down on tablets in education — considering that Microsoft just released Surface. He said low-cost PCs are the thing for students. And he dismissed the idea that giving gadgets to students will bring change, saying that approach has "a really horrible track record."
Submission + - Eben Moglen: Time To Apply Asimov's First Law Of Robotics To Smartphones (forbes.com)
Sparrowvsrevolution writes: Free software lawyer and activist Eben Moglen plans to give a talk at the Hackers On Planet Earth conference in New York next month on the need to apply Isaac Asimov's laws of robotics to our personal devices like smartphones. Here's a preview:
"In [1960s] science fiction, visionaries perceived that in the middle of the first quarter of the 21st century, we’d be living contemporarily with robots.
They were correct. We do...We carry them everywhere we go. They see everything, they’re aware of our position, our relationship to other human beings and other robots, they mediate an information stream about us, which allows other people to predict and know our conduct and intentions and capabilities better than we can predict them ourselves.
But we grew up imagining that these robots would have, incorporated in their design, a set of principles...We imagined that robots would be designed so that they could never hurt a human being. These robots have no such commitments. These robots hurt us every day.
They work for other people. They’re designed, built and managed to provide leverage and control to people other than their owners. Unless we retrofit the first law of robotics onto them immediately, we’re cooked.
"In [1960s] science fiction, visionaries perceived that in the middle of the first quarter of the 21st century, we’d be living contemporarily with robots.
They were correct. We do...We carry them everywhere we go. They see everything, they’re aware of our position, our relationship to other human beings and other robots, they mediate an information stream about us, which allows other people to predict and know our conduct and intentions and capabilities better than we can predict them ourselves.
But we grew up imagining that these robots would have, incorporated in their design, a set of principles...We imagined that robots would be designed so that they could never hurt a human being. These robots have no such commitments. These robots hurt us every day.
They work for other people. They’re designed, built and managed to provide leverage and control to people other than their owners. Unless we retrofit the first law of robotics onto them immediately, we’re cooked.
Submission + - EU Commissioner Reveals He Will Simply Ignore Any Rejection Of ACTA (techdirt.com)
Dupple writes: whatever happens next week, the European Commission will wait for the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to rule on whether ACTA is compatible with EU law. If it is found to be incompatible, De Gucht admits that rather than accept this ruling, the European Commission will try to find some trick to circumvent it:
If the Court questions the conformity of the agreement with the Treaties we will assess at that stage how this can be addressed.
This implicitly confirms that the referral was simply a way to buy time, rather than an honest question about ACTA's legality.
If the Court questions the conformity of the agreement with the Treaties we will assess at that stage how this can be addressed.
This implicitly confirms that the referral was simply a way to buy time, rather than an honest question about ACTA's legality.
Submission + - Jury issues partial verdict in Oracle-Google case (sfgate.com)
Ear Phantom writes: The SF Chronicle is reporting a partial verdict in the Oracle-Google copyright lawsuit.
Comment Re:"I am not a professional software developer" (Score 1) 278
+1 to the above post!
The person wants to design their own widgets, with all the benefits of 3D acceleration, without an actual 3D library.
"Hi, I'm Dr. Frankenstein. I want to create a human being from animal parts without any knowledge of anatomy whatsoever. What blood type should I use?"
Comment Usable (Score 1) 279
Oh, right, nobody cares about usability.
Submission + - Google heads up display (nytimes.com)
kodiaktau writes: Google working to deliver a heads up display allowing users access to email, maps and other tools through a wearable interface.
Submission + - Have Bad Cars Gone Extinct? 1
Hugh Pickens writes writes: "AP reports that global competition is squeezing lemons out of the market and forcing automakers to improve the quality and reliability of their vehicles so with few exceptions, cars are so close on reliability that it's getting harder for companies to charge a premium. "We don't have total clunkers like we used to," says Dave Sargent, automotive vice president with J.D. Power. In 1998, J.D. Power and Associates found an industry average of 278 problems per 100 vehicles but this year, the number fell to 132. In 1998, the most reliable car had 92 problems per 100 vehicles, while the least reliable had 517, a gap of 425 but this year the gap closed to 284 problems. It wasn't always like this. In the 1990s, Honda and Toyota dominated in quality, especially in the key American market for small and midsize cars. Around 2006, General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler were heading into financial trouble and shifted research dollars from trucks to cars after years of neglect and spent more on engineering and parts to close the gap. Meanwhile Toyota's reputation was tarnished by a series of safety recalls, and Honda played conservative with new models that looked similar to the old ones. Now it's "very hard to find products that aren't good anymore," says Jeremy Anwyl, CEO of the Edmunds.com automotive website. "In safety, performance and quality, the differences just don't have material impact.""
Submission + - Some Planets Are Alien Invaders (sciencemag.org)
sciencehabit writes: A new study says billions of stars in our galaxy likely grabbed planets from the depths of space. The finding may explain the puzzling presence of worlds located far from their suns and even suggests that our solar system could harbor a planet that lurks unseen well beyond Pluto.
