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Comment Re:Evil Monopoly (Score 5, Insightful) 314

by eparker05 (#38428754) Attached to: Apple Wins Injunction Banning Import of HTC Devices

Essentially apple patented a method where an 'analyzer program' checks text for patterns (such as phone numbers and email addresses) and makes them actionable with a click.

The patent goes on to discuss that arbitrary patterns can be searched for using a plugin and that the analyzer software allows for users to select the program that handles the type of link. It seems that Android does indeed violate this patent in every way possible. I wonder if automatic hyperlinking of email addresses count as prior art; although this does not include the user interface element asking which program to use.

Either way; I think this is a sucky patent to have to contend with. It reminds me why I don't like software patents to begin with.
Censorship

Submission + - Congressional Democrats Propose Amending the Const (reason.com) 4

Submitted by
hessian
hessian writes: "UCLA law professor Eugene Volokh runs down the free speech-crushing consequences of HJR 90, a proposed constitutional amendment backed by House Democrats including Reps. Theodore Deutch (Fla.), Peter DeFazio (Ore.), and Alcee Hastings (Fla.), which would forbid “for-profit corporations, limited liability companies, or other private entities established for business purposes” from “making contributions or expenditures in any election of any candidate for public office or the vote upon any ballot measure submitted to the people.” As Volokh explains, this would be bad news indeed at places like the New York Times Company:

        Nearly all newspapers, TV stations, cable networks, and rations (except of course for nonprofits such as NPR) are organized as corporations or other entities established for business purposes. Under section 3, they “shall be prohibited” from making expenditures “in any election of any candidate ... or the vote upon any ballot measure.” Since to write or print or broadcast anything, newspapers, networks, and broadcasters must spend money, this would ban — not just authorize Congress to ban, but itself ban — editorials supporting or opposing a candidate or a ballot measure."
Medicine

Submission + - The $443 Million Smallpox Vaccine that Nobody Need 2

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens writes
Hugh Pickens writes writes: "Once feared for its grotesque pustules and 30% death rate, smallpox was eradicated worldwide as of 1978 and is known to exist only in the locked freezers of a Russian scientific institute and the US government. There is no credible evidence that any other country or a terrorist group possesses smallpox, but if there were an attack, the government could draw on $1 billion worth of smallpox vaccine it already owns to inoculate the entire US population and quickly treat people exposed to the virus. The vaccine, which costs the government $3 per dose, can reliably prevent death when given within four days of exposure. David Williams writes that over the last year, the Obama administration has aggressively pushed a $433-million plan to buy an experimental smallpox drug, despite uncertainty over whether it is needed or will work. So why did the government award a "sole-source" procurement to Siga Technologies Inc., whose controlling shareholder is billionaire Ronald O. Perelman, a longtime Democratic Party donor, calling for Siga to deliver 1.7 million doses of the drug for the nation's biodefense stockpile at a price of approximately $255 per dose. "We've got a vaccine that I hope we never have to use — how much more do we need?" says epidemiologist Dr. Donald A. Henderson who led the global eradication of smallpox for the WHO. "The bottom line is, we've got a limited amount of money.""

Comment They forgot what tests are for (Score 4, Insightful) 743

by eparker05 (#37941316) Attached to: Tough Tests Flunk Good Programming Job Candidates

Tests can be a good measurement of quality when the test is material that can be studied for. In school you have a test at the end of a class. For certifications, tests are meant to measure knowledge gained during training. In graduate school, qualifying exams are done to second year students who have time to prepare and hone their skills.

Testing somebody from a cold start, on subjects they have no practical way to prepare for seems like a good way to hire a trivia expert, but the productivity of an employee should be evaluated by his resume and portfolio.

Comment _NOT_ the end of Arduino? (Score 3, Insightful) 123

by eparker05 (#37923600) Attached to: 10k Raspberry Pi Units Available In December

This product is no more suitable for microcontroller applications than an eee-pc.

Arduino's appeal is that of low level electronic access. It can take voltage readings or output PWM and digital voltage signals. More advanced projects use serial or I2C communication with peripherals but it is all really low level access. As they say, Arduino is for physical computing.

Raspberry Pi is meant to be an inexpensive computer.... an application platform where the primary input and output are a keyboard and a monitor.

They may both be small, green, and electronic, but they are no more competitors than donuts are to potato (starchy brown food?).
Android

Submission + - Ballmer Slams Android As 'Cheap,' Overcomplicated (itworld.com) 1

Submitted by
jfruhlinger
jfruhlinger writes: "On the day Android Ice Cream Sandwich was released, Steve Ballmer livened up the Web 2.0 conference by lobbing potshots at Google's mobile OS, calling it the choice of "cheap" phones and claiming "the biggest advantage we have over Android is that you don’t need to be a computer scientist to use a Windows Phone.""

Comment Re:Bullshit (Score 3, Insightful) 624

by eparker05 (#37606780) Attached to: NY Senators Want To Make Free Speech A Privilege

I agree that the report is primarly an informative piece with a few suggested policies. I disagree with your conclusion; you seem to think the inclusion of moderate language and statements somehow offsets the damage that these policies, and this mindset, would do to our freedoms. Policy is often a one way street and it is hard to regain freedoms once lost.

Yes, cyber-bullying is an issue. No, this guys extreme view on the 'privilege' of free speech isn't going to help prevent kids from being bullies.

Comment Re:Bullshit (Score 4, Insightful) 624

by eparker05 (#37605770) Attached to: NY Senators Want To Make Free Speech A Privilege

In essence;

        WE ARE AWARE OF THE EXISTENCE OF A CONSTITUTION THAT PROTECTS PEOPLE'S RIGHTS, BUT WE WILL CIRCUMVENT THESE PROTECTIONS IN THE FOLLOWING WAY:

It also has a plenty of nuance, read the next page if you like

        IN SUMMARY, ALTHOUGH SPEECH IS GENERALLY PROTECTED, OUR ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF THIS FACT SHOULD MAKE YOU LESS SCARED THAT WE ARE ABOUT TO ERODE YOUR RIGHTS. IN

Holy crikey, the OP might have made some sense.
Space

Submission + - Does Famous Exoplanet 'Fomalhaut b' Really Exist? (discovery.com)

Submitted by
astroengine
astroengine writes: "The first exoplanet ever to be directly imaged by the Hubble space telescope may not exist. In 2008, the world was in awe of the famous "Eye of Sauron" image of the star Fomalhaut's dusty ring — plus a slowly moving object that was identified as Fomalhaut b, a gas giant world approximately 3-times the mass of Jupiter. However, due to a strange orbital misstep detected between 2008 and 2009 photographs, the validity of Fomalhaut b's detection is being questioned, generating some controversy in the exoplanet community."

Comment Re:water isn't light (Score 1) 292

by eparker05 (#37402804) Attached to: Scientists Plan "Artificial Volcano" Climate Experiment

The answer; a lot of coal would be needed to run this program
The uncomfortable truth; relatively little coal would be needed to run this program.

The world consumed 4.74*10^20 joules of energy in 2008, it is safe to say that at least half that was carbon based.
the simple equation m*g*h say that operating at 100% efficiency, the pumps would need 1.96*10^15 joules per year to pump 10 million tonnes of material 20 km high.

Now say the pumps were only 10% efficient, and assume my 50% carbon based energy claim is true, then a tax of 0.01 % (yes; one hundredth of one percent) on all carbon based energies would fully fund the program's energy needs with a little surplus. Assume the infrastructure/administration also costs something then a tax of 0.02% would probably take care of the whole dang thing.

Compare a 0.02% tax with the exponentially higher taxes guaranteed in a cap and trade scenario.

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