But is an employer asking for your transcript really that common? It has never happened to me in the 20 years since I graduated. After my first job, nobody cared other than that I had a degree in my field, and not one employer since then has checked just to see if I was lying about it.

Now grad school, sure they'll want your transcript, but if you can't pay your undergrad loans, is borrowing a ton more money and going to grad school really a good idea?

Necron69

Are you people really that stupid to think that both SpaceX and NASA haven't spent tens of thousands of man hours planning, testing, retesting, and triple testing this docking procedure? Are you aware that the only reason it takes two people to do the docking is that NASA won't _allow_ SpaceX to do the docking automatically like the Russian Soyuz? Instead, they have to pull up close to the station, and then get grabbed by the robot arm, for SAFETY.

Do you have any idea how many ex-NASA and space shuttle contractors have been hired by SpaceX? Do you know how many former astronauts work there?

God, it is like some people think Elon Musk hired a bunch of high school rocket club kids and is being allowed to dock with the space station based on plans drawn on the back of a napkin.

Get a freaking clue, people.

- Necron69

Seconded. I want to READ stories on Slashdot. I do not want to watch another damn video, and I fail to understand why everyone seems to want to turn the entire Internet into TV 2.0 or something. Watching a video takes vastly more of my time than reading an interesting article about something, plus the intelligence level of most online video is way lower.

- Necron69

Yep. I have a blind friend who can text and do email on his iPhone just fine. All it requires is a 'bumpy' screen overlay that matches the soft keyboard in portrait display mode. The necessary software settings are built-in out of the box with iOS. All of his messages and notifications are read aloud to him by the phone.

Necron69

I have to agree. I've seen too many people quit jobs 'on a whim' and screw up their lives (and their family's) permanently.

All jobs suck at one level or another. Grow up, suck it up, and keep working. You need to learn to work to live, not live to work.

Necron69

I suppose this would be more exciting if I could still wear contacts. Sjogren's Syndrome has given me 20% of normal tear volume, and I have plugs in my tear ducts to keep what little moisture my eyes do produce from draining away so fast. I never go anywhere without a bottle of eye drops.

While I'm an odd exception, glasses would be far more practical and usable by more people. Just get Oakley to make a pair and get ready to profit!

Necron69

Yep, it sucks. My recommended work commute by Denver's Regional Transportation District takes three transfers, 2.5 hours, and is followed by "walk the remaining 3 miles" (yes, really). I can drive the same route in 40 minutes most days, so I do.

I'd love to be able to sit back and let someone else drive for me, but not at that cost.

Necron69

I've taken statistics and entire courses on error handling calculations in engineering and physics, which is EXACTLY why I don't believe the predictions.

Necron69

Do "Tree rings, lake sediments, and glacial cores" really give you _good_ data? Is it accurate to tenths or hundredths of a degree C? I don't see how this could possibly be the case, but I remain open to explanations.

Honestly, I will remain a skeptic until I see a well written treatment of the uncertainties involved and how big the real error bars are on the predictions. The only write-up I've seen to date gave the IPCC 100 year warming prediction a +-10 degrees C uncertainty. That makes the prediction worthless.

Seriously, please point me at a good write-up on the uncertainties in the calculations. I'd love to look at it.

Necron69

When I last worked around a satellite groundstation (Space Imaging's IKONOS) 10 years ago, the satellite control systems were damn sure not connected to the internet. Communications were encrypted and reasonable physical security measures were in place too.

Why the Hell would you connect something critical like satellite control or a nuclear reactor control system to the Internet?

This defies logic.

Necron69
 

There are alternatives to ridiculously priced, private 4-year colleges. How about spending your first two years at your local community college?

My son is doing exactly this right now, taking 14 credit hours this semester while working 20 hours a week changing oil and tires. For added fun, he lives with his Grandmother and his Aunt, because they are close to the college.

In another 18 months, he will graduate with an associates degree and credits that will transfer to any college in the state, for a total student loan debt of about $14k. If he wants to, he can go on to a four year school and still save a boatload of money versus the people borrowing $20k or more a year for 4+ years.

It amazes me that more people don't do this. I wish I had done it myself.

Necron69

Well, I rather like Paolini. He's a very young writer, and maturing as he writes. That being said, he is most definitely a fantasy writer, not a science fiction writer. The real world is not a book store or a library, and we shouldn't confuse the two genres.

Necron69

Personally, I find a lot of the 'revolutionary' talk by the Occupy Wall Street folks disturbing.

While I am sympathetic to some of their concerns, by no means do I share all of them. For that matter, they need to get a handle on what their concerns are. It seems like they are quickly becoming a magnet for all sorts of far left fringe groups. In that way, perhaps, it is somewhat like a polar opposite of the Tea Party movement.

Regardless, we have a system for changing things in this country and it starts with voting. If these people think they are going to stir things up and start some sort of Great Socialist Revolution, they are going to find out damn quick that they are NOT supported by 99% of the population.

- Necron69

The 'entrenched players' can't even conceive of how to do a space vehicle without making it a cost-plus contract so that they can rake in the overruns. They were blindsided by SpaceX years ago, and are still scratching their heads trying to figure out what to do besides petition Congress to keep paying them.

The DNA of the old guard military-aerospace companies is so hardwired to bureacratic, massive management overhead thinking that they cannot adapt.

Necron69

My DVD collection was destroyed by a fire a couple of years ago. I pocketed the cash from the insurance company and never bothered to replace them.

Now I have a Roku w/Netflix and Amazon On Demand. Who needs a disk of any format?

- Necron69