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Comment Re:Password strength vs. how often you change it (Score 1) 499

I need to change my company password every month, but the password strength for my company account remains strong.

My password strength for a website forum where I never need to change it however, is usually weak.

The password strength I use is highly correlated with the sensitivity of the information it allows access to and the importance of the systems.

I would fall into the 96% of people who don't use non-alphanumerics for "Rockyou.com"

Comment Re:One person's myth is another person's fact. (Score 1) 580

Yes, I've done that more than a few times myself. Under pressure of a deadline, and the code just needs to work is a situation I have found myself in more times than I would like. But given the nature of my job, it is entirely possible that the code gets done, and then not looked at again for years. Just recently a client came to us for enhancements to a codebase that hadn't been touched in close to 5 years, and there are a few spots that are 'make it work' instead of 'clean and pretty'.

In this situation I will often flag the section of code with a "TODO" and write a brief explanation regarding how the code SHOULD be structured such as: //TODO: Future Rev. restructure by abstracting common elements from X, Y, and Z and merge object creation into a factory.

This serves very well as a 'this is a hack' flag to me but also reminds me why it was a hack and what I was thinking on how to improve it.

Comment Re:Hmm (Score 5, Interesting) 511

There are religions that don't accept members (through baptism) until they reach adulthood. They are called Anabaptists (many sects began during the Reformation because they believed that Martin Luther didn't address all their grievances with the Catholic Church).

One of the more widespread of the Anabaptist sects are the Mennonites (of which I am one). I was baptized at the age of 26, because prior to then I didn't have a reason or desire to attend church. But, things happen, and I found a reason and a need in my life to be part of the church. It hasn't changed my belief structure (I still am agnostic/athiest) but that does not preclude the need for the belonging and philosophy of church. I may not believe there is a god, but a small hope that it might be true can give strength in trying times.

Comment Re:Cool tech, but... (Score 1) 162

I use a (homemade) grid mat, erasable markers, and little colored stone gems that I got at the dollar store that I wrote numbers and symbols on with a paint pen.

The only reason I started using this setup was that my players preferred it because it gave them a better ability to visualize a combat area and *gasp* speed up combat! They no longer had to ask me about positioning, if they could do one thing or another, they could see it and decide for themselves. Made combat quicker because everyone was now prepared when their turn came.

I would love to have the surface to facilitate the kind of game I already run, so that I don't have to:
- Remember my 'stone' miniatures
- Remember to bring paper-towel and a spray bottle
- Remember to bring markers
- Easily create creatures that are bigger than a single space (its a pain moving a 3x3 grid size monster across the board that uses 9 stones).

Comment Re:Fahrenheit: It's for telling temperature (Score 3, Insightful) 1233

100 is pretty hot, and 0 is pretty cold

Well, only if you live in the US mid-west. I'm used to 25C (77F) being quite warm and 30C (86F) is hot. I agree that -20C (-4F) is pretty cool, but it's not really cold until it passes -30C (-22F).

It is all fine and dandy to have a scale that 'makes sense for people', but when 'people' are a small sub-set who live in a particular climate then it really doesn't make sense for those of us who are used to different temperature ranges. Consistency and comprehension are more important, and it doesn't take very long to convert and begin understanding a new system.

In terms of smaller degrees, in Fahrenheit they are terribly useless and confusing. When determining what kind of day it is going to be and how I should dress I only care about 5 degree increments... in C, which is almost 10 degree increments in F. I really don't care if it is 14C or 17C both are 'close to 15C', much like it is of no importance whether it is 77F or 82F, it is simply 'close to 80F'.

Give me a consistent, useful measuring system that allows me to:
1) quickly translate numeric values into 'how it feels'
2) communicate temperature effectively with those around me
3) easily judge relative temperatures between different contexts (how hot is it if I set my oven to 60C? Not hot enough to boil, but more than enough to keep my food warm until I finish cooking)

Comment Re:This ad paid for by... (Score 1) 512

No, his objections are completely valid. With digital photography nearly every professional photograph is airbrushed with the exception of news agencies. Portrait photos that are taken at a studio that you pay for are airbrushed, advertisements, marketing material, you name it.

My sister does this for a living and has worked at several photography studios, everything gets airbrushed from reducing/eliminating blemishes to changing the color of clothing. Unless an agency has some particular expectation of photographic accuracy (either documentation or news purposes) then there are always 'flaws' in an image that either weren't noticed at the time it was taken, or couldn't be controlled by the photographer. This happened before digital photography in the darkroom or through airbrushing, but it is vastly easier to do digitally.

Comment Re:We never needed them before (Score 1, Insightful) 607

We were perfectly capable of using motorized or animal transportation without seat belts for millennia... IMHO with a little care and good control these devices are completely unnecessary.

It's not that I don't agree with your point, but I don't agree with the argument that you've made. Just because we've gone without something for a long time, and care will mostly mitigate circumstances that would result in an unfavourable result, this does not mean the device is unnecessary or useless.

Now I don't think I should need such a device with my daughter, but I can easily imagine plausible circumstances in which an urgent matter arises and such a device would be handy to have available if only to give me peace of mind. Because you are not going to be able to watch your children 24hours a day forever... it's part of growing up. And maybe instead of following them to school the first time that they walk "alone", I will make sure my daughter arrives safely by checking my iPhone from my living room.

Comment Winnipeg MB - Canada (Score 1) 451

Cue the jokes, but my favourite season is Summer --> Winter because the mosquitoes disappear and stay gone for at least 7 months.

Really though, we have quite short spring/autumn seasons. The transition from Winter to Summer and back again happen quite quickly and often unexpectedly. This year we had a terrible summer 3C below normal right through august but now that we are in mid-september it is 25C-28C outside and we're having the best weather of the summer. We have also been known to get snow this time of year and sometimes have summer-like temperatures in mid-April.

To give an idea of the quick transitions, late-September (we often have Indian summers) and October the trees turn and temperatures rapidly plummet from 20 above to freezing and by the end of October we start getting snow, a span of about 6 weeks. This year with summer lingering I don't expect autumn to arrive until October and last about 4 weeks. In spring temperatures usually start rising above freezing in April and by the end of May we are hitting summer-like highs, again a span of about 6 weeks.

That leaves a good 5 1/2 months of solid winter season, 3 1/2 months of summer, and about 1 1/2 months of each spring and autumn.

Comment Re:And I'll be the first to say: (Score 1) 256

That doesn't make sense.
1) In most situations (any that I can think of) you can't prove someone is not guilty simply because you cannot find a DNA sample from them at the crime scene.
2) Now with the possibility of fabricating DNA evidence and planting it at the scene, you can't prove someone is not guilty due to DNA evidence being found from a different person.

Please explain how you can prove someone is not guilty via DNA evidence either prior to, or after this discovery.

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