Comment Re:Why this is sad (Score 4, Insightful) 179
Figure 40-minute newscast, 40-minute drama/show, 40 minutes advertising
FTFY
(Your point still stands. I agree with you.)
Comment Re:They are here (Score 1) 648
...on a plate
Comment Re:Naturally... (Score 2, Informative) 196
If that isn't an instance of the Broken Window Fallacy I don't know what is.
Comment Re:Wrong (Score 1) 264
Oh, it is so simple.
*head explodes*
Comment Re:They are fighting nature (Score 1) 443
When fighting nature, either nature always wins or everyone loses. In this case, they are fighting artistic and entertainment nature. Art and entertainment need to be free and need to be shared. It is an important part of what it means to be a human being. What big media is doing is wrong in the sense that they think they can control and limit and even "bottle up" art and entertainment to maximize their profits.
This gets said a lot here. Every time, it is said without explaining why art and entertainment "need" to be free. This makes it come off like hippies raving due to a false sense of entitlement. So, please, explain why those things "need" to be free in a clear, logical statement.
Comment Re:That makes sense (Score 1) 265
The solution to the problem of the ultra-rich is not to add more taxes for the [well-off,ultra-rich] rich to then avoid. It is to make taxes flat and remove the loopholes. One could argue that the loopholes exist because the tax is so high it requires them to not hurt normal people.
I want to live in a country where I have a right to keep what I earn and decide how to spend it. I also want to aspire to become rich so my kids can have it better than I did.
I've heard the argument many times that the rich became so by standing on the backs of others. And that may be true to some extent. But you can't get rich without doing a lot of business, and that means producing a lot, paying a lot of people's salaries, etc.
Stop looking at anecdotal evidence about the extremely rich (buffet, gates, etc) and getting riled about the lifestyles they lead. They are not representative of the people being taxed. It is the successful business owners and professionals, people who have worked hard all their lives who will be hurt.
How can anyone say with a straight face that a progressive tax is more fair than a flat tax? All else being equal. (If it's not, then that is what we should focus on fixing)
Good Language Choice For School Programming Test? 407
An anonymous reader writes "The Australian Informatics Olympiad programming test is being run in a couple of months. I'm an experienced programmer and I'm thinking of volunteering to tutor interested kids at my children's school to get them ready. There will be children of all levels in the group, from those that can't write 'hello world' in any language, to somewhat experienced programmers. For those starting from scratch, I'm wondering what language to teach them to code in. Accepted languages are C, C++, Pascal, Java, PHP, Python and Visual Basic. I'm leaning towards Python, because it is a powerful language with a simple syntax. However, the test has a run-time CPU seconds limit, so using an interpreted language like Python could put the students at a disadvantage compared to using C. Is it better to teach them something in 2 months that they're likely to be able to code in but possibly run foul of the CPU time limit, or struggle to teach them to code in a more complicated syntax like C/C++ which would however give them the best chance of having a fast solution?"
Fastest (and Most Compact) Stellar Spinner Confirmed 47
gregg writes "HM Cancri has been confirmed as a binary system of two white dwarfs orbiting each other so closely that they complete one orbit every 5.4 minutes; they are separated by a mere 8 Earth diameters. 'These are the burnt-out cinders of stars such as our Sun, and contain a highly condensed form of helium, carbon and oxygen. The two white dwarfs in HM Cancri are so close together that mass is flowing from one star to the other. HM Cancri was first noticed as an X-ray source in 1999, showing a 5.4 minutes periodicity, but for a long time it has remained unclear whether this period also indicated the actual orbital period of the system. It was so short that astronomers were reluctant to accept the possibility without solid proof. '"
Comment They wish they'd thought of it first (Score 4, Informative) 225
Sounds to me like AMD just wishes they'd thought of it first. There's no reason AMD couldn't offer similar deals.
Comment Re:Because they can be bullied (Score 2, Insightful) 938
Nonsense. Their initially preferred targets are almost always smaller/weaker than they are.
Dying Man Shares Unseen Challenger Video 266
longacre writes "An amateur video of the 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger explosion has been made public for the first time. The Florida man who filmed it from his front yard on his new Betamax camcorder turned the tape over to an educational organization a week before he died this past December. The Space Exploration Archive has since published the video into the public domain in time for the 24th anniversary of the catastrophe. Despite being shot from about 70 miles from Cape Canaveral, the shuttle and the explosion can be seen quite clearly. It is unclear why he never shared the footage with NASA or the media. NASA officials say they were not aware of the video, but are interested in examining it now that it has been made available."
Comment Re:Are nerds not aware (Score 1) 844
Sorry, I've never carved out a month to read that book; is that what it preaches?
While I certainly think there's a lot of parasites out there who want to live off the hard work of others (e.g., just about everyone on welfare, and many people on disability), a lot of the people at "the top" aren't exactly hard workers, they're also parasites (e.g., almost all politicians) who don't produce anything of real value, and are mostly sociopaths to boot.
The problem with unions is that they foster corruption and laziness, and mostly serve to enrich and empower the union bosses, who again are just parasites who do nothing of real value.
Actually, it preaches almost exactly what you just said you think. You'd probably like it a lot.
Comment Re:Are nerds not aware (Score 1) 844
Guess it's time to stop reading Atlas Shrugged, pretending that those above us in the hierarchy are looking out for us, and start forming a union, eh?
Because those above you in the Union hierarchy have your best interests at heart. Right?
The only person who would say something like that is someone who has never read Atlas Shrugged or who has a complete lack of reading comprehension. If you think the message of Atlas Shrugged is, in any way, that those above you in the hierarchy are looking out for you and have your best interests at heart then you need to read it again. Remember, the main villains in the book are BIG BUSINESS.
Italy Floats Official Permission Requirement for Web Video Uploads 131
An anonymous reader writes with some bad news from Italy, noting that new rules proposed there would "require people who upload videos onto the Internet to obtain authorization from the Communications Ministry similar to that required by television broadcasters, drastically reducing freedom to communicate over the Web." Understandably, some say such controls represent a conflict of interest for Silvio Berlusconi, "who exercises political control over the state broadcaster RAI in his role as prime minister and is also the owner of Italy's largest private broadcaster, Mediaset."
Ubuntu 10.04 Alpha 2 vs. Early Fedora 13 Benchmarks 157
Given that early benchmarks of the Lucid Lynx were less than encouraging, Phoronix decided to take the latest alpha out for a spin and has set it side-by-side with an early look at Fedora 13. "Overall, there are both positive and negative performance changes for Ubuntu 10.04 LTS Alpha 2 in relation to Ubuntu 9.10. Most of the negative regressions are attributed to the EXT4 file-system losing some of its performance charm. With using a pre-alpha snapshot of Fedora 13 and the benchmark results just being provided for reference purposes, we will hold off on looking into greater detail at this next Red Hat Linux update until it matures."
