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Comment The forecast for Gaza today is.... (Score -1, Troll) 42

The forecast for Gaza today is large amounts of rocket-propelled precipitation.

Looking at the article, which is shockingly badly written, it's a perfected method not in use anywhere in the world, including Israel, and the map they use for Israel includes the West Bank and Gaza, something that only Israel, in the whole wide world, does.

Expect lots of PR bullshit from Israel over the next few weeks while they bomb the crap out of Palestinians in Gaza...

Submission + - It's getting late pretty early on climate change (vox.com)

Submitted by imikem
imikem writes: There is a really depressing article by Brad Plumer of the Washington post here. While I support an all of the above except fossil fuel approach to electric generation going forward, I often note the rather smug attitude of certain solar and/or wind advocates, ignoring serious problems with both. This irritates me, as their faith in these useful and necessary technologies often seems to approach that of a religion. Then too we get reflexively anti-nuclear, FUD-filled rants, and denialist members of the myth of the month club. On one hand, I cannot understand how apparently well-intentioned people can think that solar and wind plus efficiency can supply reliable energy to 7-9 billion people indefinitely. On the other are people who appear convinced that burning a hundred million years' worth of fossilized hydrocarbons in the space of a few decades won't drastically affect Earth's climate. I'm starting to lose hope that humankind will do anything meaningful in time to prevent a horrifying collapse of civilization and the global ecosystem within the lifetime of my children. Maybe The Matrix is the real future. Cue up some calm, reasoned debate in three, two, one.

Comment Re:Those poor bastards (Score 3, Funny) 102

by JabrTheHut (#46970137) Attached to: Australian Government To Standardise On Drupal

Coding a custom CMS is a start. Programming web-based systems isn't that hard. I do it for a living, but I use Wordpress or Joomla when the customer wants it.

I'm a consultant, and you're not thinking this through. You shouldn't start writing a new CMS from scratch whenever you start a new project. When I start a new project, say for a moderately complex web site, I go back to the beginning and design a new CPU. The new system that the CPU will fit into has to be designed, built and tested, and then a new OS written and debugged. Next a new communications protocol has to be designed, written and tested. Finally, a new set of applications written for the new OS, and then, finally, a web site.

This approach is the only reasonable way to turn a three month contract into a 15-year failed project. You've grasped the basic consulting creed of re-inventing the wheel at every opportunity, but you're not going far enough.

Comment Too Little, Too Late (Score 4, Insightful) 165

by JabrTheHut (#46866523) Attached to: Setback For Small Nuclear Reactors: B&W Cuts mPower Funding
If they think there will be any need for this by the mid-2020s, they're in for a rude awakening and a nasty financial loss.

Solar panels have dropped in price by 65% in the last two years. They're expecting another 60% price drop by 2020, and efficiency isn't being sacrificed - it's only getting better, with 25% being achieved in the lab now. Research is also much cheaper - researchers ask for grants such as $5 million or $15 million, not the $1 billion mentioned in the article.

Combine wind farms, hydro power, solar thermal, and the recent improvements with storing energy, both as potential energy and in batteries, and I doubt any one will want to invest in "small" nuclear reactors, either now or 10 years from now. Solar panels aren't the fix for everything, but they will make it uneconomical to put in place big, expensive nuclear reactors, which are only small and cheap by comparison to even bigger ones.

Comment Re:Statistics suck (Score 1) 367

by JabrTheHut (#46599313) Attached to: More Than 1 In 4 Car Crashes Involve Cellphone Use

It is a fact that in over 50% of all accidents there were at LEAST 2 breasts in the car at the time.

If that were even remotely true then Saudi Arabia would be the safest place in the world to drive. Looking at the stats on wikipedia, the answer is a resouding "no." Mind you, compare US and UK traffic accidents and you start to wonder why two developed nations have such different fatality rates for traffic accidents...

Submission + - Apple Refuses to Unlock Bequeathed iPad

Submitted by mrspoonsi
mrspoonsi writes: BBC reports: A man whose mother bequeathed her iPad to her family in her will says Apple's security rules are too restrictive. Since her death, they have been unable to unlock the device, despite providing Apple with copies of her will, death certificate and solicitor's letter. After her death, they discovered they did not know her Apple ID and password, but were asked to provide written consent for the device to be unlocked. Mr Grant said: "We obviously couldn't get written permission because mum had died. So my brother has been back and forth with Apple, they're asking for some kind of proof that he can have the iPad. "We've provided the death certificate, will and solicitor's letter but it wasn't enough. They've now asked for a court order to prove that mum was the owner of the iPad and the iTunes account.

Submission + - Police use WhatsApp for surveillance operations, share intel with civilian.

Submitted by TheP4st
TheP4st writes: A group of Swedish police officers thought it a good idea to use WhatsApp as a work tool for surveillance operations, the officer that set up their chat group mistyped one of the phone numbers to mistakenly include a civilian IT teacher. Once the teacher informed authorities about the mistake it took more than 24 hours before he stopped receiving sensitive case information that included criminal records excerpts, passport photos and communications between surveillance teams tailing suspects.

When confronted by Computer Sweden (article in Swedish) the officer responsible for setting up the group say "I know this server is not located in Sweden and that one cannot share every kind of information" Yet it took less than an hour from that the group were set up that the teacher started getting sensitive intel on suspects. The only mobile chat medium approved for sensitive information is Blackberry, and this initiative by a small group of officers happened as they do not have access to Blackberry handsets which are considered too expensive.

Article in English

Submission + - Code.org: Not Supporting Our Vision Seems Un-American

Submitted by theodp
theodp writes: In a Tumblr post entitled The "Secret Agenda" Behind Code.org, the learn-to-code organization offers 'a response to critics' who questioned if Code.org has a hidden agenda that is aligned with the self-serving interests of its high-tech corporate donors and their leaders. While not specifically addressing the cross-pollination of Code.org and Mark Zuckerberg's FWD.us PAC, or the similar more-tech-visas-for-CS-education pitches that both groups and Microsoft have made to Congress, Code.org did pooh-pooh the idea that it was part of "a political effort run by tech companies and their evil founders to fill software jobs cheaply." And for those who would still question Code.org's vision? Well, you just might be un-American. "The Code.org vision is for every student in every school to have the opportunity to learn computer science," the post concludes. "It is a fundamental American ideal — and an ideal people worldwide aspire to — that access to education and opportunity should be equal for all. It seems un-American to accept that computer science classes are only available to the privileged few, in only 10 percent of schools." Speaking of educational equity, Code.org founder Hadi Partovi and some of the nonprofit's supporters — including Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, and Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith (a Code.org Board member) — also collaborated together in 2010 on Defeat 1098, making cash contributions that helped defeat an initiative to create a WA state income tax that Bill Gates (Sr.) argued at the time was needed to address K-12 funding inequity, which he said was forcing businesses "to import technically-trained employees, while our own people are shut out of highly paid careers." Guess now's the time for Gates Sr. to say, "I told you so."

Submission + - OpenBSD (OpenSSH) will shut down if funding not found (reddit.com)

Submitted by BillBrains
BillBrains writes: In light of shrinking funding, we do need to look for a source to cover project expenses. If need be the OpenBSD Foundation can be involved in receiving donations to cover project electrical costs.

But the fact is right now, OpenBSD will shut down if we do not have the funding to keep the lights on.

If you or a company you know are able to assist us, it would be greatly appreciated, but right now we are looking at a significant funding shortfall for the upcoming year — Meaning the project won't be able to cover 20 thousand dollars in electrical expenses before being able to use money for other things. That sort of situation is not
sustainable.

http://marc.info/?l=openbsd-misc&m=138972987203440&w=2

Comment Re:They should require refund window (Score 2) 252

by JabrTheHut (#45970807) Attached to: Apple Will Refund $32.5M To Settle In-App Purchase Complaints With FTC

Meanwhile, if a parent is idiot enough to let their toddler play with a somewhat-fragile glass-faced $500+ electronic device?

You mean like a TV? And - toddler? There's a stage or two between toddler and adult that you seem to be unaware of...

The parent(s) deserve the consequences, and should count themselves lucky that little Junior didn't slam it into the floor until the screen shattered.

She keeps slamming toys into the screen, but she's not strong enough to break it. Yet.

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