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Comment Re:Why not? (Score 1) 541

by zach_the_lizard (#30175434) Attached to: Linus Torvalds For Nobel Peace Prize?
In some states, such as the one where I reside now, write in votes are tossed out. The exceptions are the write in candidates who are officially sanctioned, but didn't end up on the ballot for some reason or other. This is likely due to the nature of the electoral college, where (in every state, IIRC) you vote not for the candidates themselves, but for a slate of electors that has pledged to cast electoral votes for that candidate. As the write-ins do not have a slate of electors, they are unfortunately thrown out. At least that is how I understand it.

Comment Re:Too bad, really (Score 1) 900

by Risen888 (#30174192) Attached to: GIMP Dropped From Ubuntu 10.04

Not the point at all.

Here's the point. Windows comes with nothing. Zippo. Nada. And this is expected, because Windows is half-assed.

Ubuntu, otoh, comes with the works. The whole point of Ubuntu is that any casual desktop user can install it in half an hour and be ready to rock like right now. No fucking around, it's already ready already, et cetera.

And that is right and expected, because Ubuntu is not half-assed. It comes with shit. Serious shit, to do real work right now.

And to try and turn this back to the original topic, the above is why I think this decision is a mistake, unless there's something serious to fill that gap with (and no, I'm not talking about F-Spot).

Hell, I don't even like Gimp, and I don't use Ubuntu in my home anymore (though I do still recommend it to others). I run Arch with KDE, use Krita, and you'll pry it out of my cold dead hands. But I'm obviously not Ubuntu's user base. If you're Ubuntu, and you use the Gnome desktop, you must ergo include the Gimp. If you don't, as the GP said, you look less serious, and more half-assed.

Comment Perpetual motion 'fat'? (Score 1) 978

by TiggertheMad (#30029684) Attached to: Why Doesn't Exercise Lead To Weight Loss?
Still, physics still stand: Use more energy than you get through food you _will_ lose weight

Agreed, I call bullshit on any conclusion that make the claim that exercise doesn't lead to weight loss . Show me a overweight Olympic level marathon runner, and I might believe it.

Delta in < delta out = delta down.
Linux

Getting Inked for Tux at OSCON 108

Posted by timothy from the mama-with-a-heart-is-so-last-century dept.
OSCON isn't just a gathering for talks on topics like Creating Location-aware Web 2.0 Applications on an Open Source Geospatial Platform and fightin' words from the stage; it's also an excuse for some interesting social gatherings, like this year's Community Choice awards (organized and sponsored by the corporate overlords at SourceForge, as you might recall, and with Slashdot's own special category), at which, among other festive activities, attendees were offered the chance to get open-source-related tattoos. There are shots of some of these up on the SourceForge Community pages, and — with some overlap — even more in this set at Flickr. (My pasty bicep^h^h^h^h^h shoulder is the one now adorned with a circled head of a happy Tux ala IBM; I was expecting it to hurt more than it actually did.) Anyone with techie tattoos, please disclose below.
Displays

Best Way To Put a Monitor On a Robot? 48

Posted by timothy from the window-to-the-soul dept.

I'm part of my schools IGVC team, and we're upgrading our bot's computer to an onboard mini-itx. Most of the access to the box is gonna be through ssh, but I want a terminal I can just mount on the bot for convenience. Bidding on a psOne LCD already, but what are some good options if that doesn't pan out? I want to keep it as cheap as possible and small (in the 5-7 inch range). I haven't found any good guides to modding a digital photo frame or portable DVD player, but I'm probably just not looking in the right places.
The Almighty Buck

GoDaddy VP Caught Bidding Against Customers 222

Posted by timothy from the strong-accusations-so-consider-the-source dept.
An anonymous reader writes "A GoDaddy Vice President has been caught bidding against customers in their own domain name auctions. The employee Adam Dicker isn't just any GoDaddy employee; he's head of the GoDaddy subsidiary that controls the auctions. Dicker won some of the domains he bid for, and pushed up the bid price on auctions he didn't win. The conflict of interest is unethical, but could this practice also be illegal? Said a representative for a competitor, 'Even if controlled, that practice has bad news written all over it.' This comes hot on the heels of news that despite earlier promises to ICANN to end their 60-Day ban on transfers, GoDaddy quietly circumvented it by forcing customers to agree to the ban anyway. ICANN doesn't appear to be investigating or asking follow-up questions about this. What can be done to force ICANN to police the registrars for which it is responsible?"
Communications

Netgear Launches Open Source-Friendly Wireless Router 182

Posted by timothy from the market-linksys-chose-to-mostly-ignore dept.
An anonymous reader submits news of Netgear's release of the "open source Wireless-G Router (model WGR614L), enabling Linux developers and enthusiasts to create firmware for specialized applications, and supported by a dedicated open source community. The router supports the most popular open source firmware; Tomato and DD-WRT are available on WGR614L, making it easier for users to develop a wide variety of applications. The router is targeted at people who want custom firmware on their router without worrying about issues, and enjoy the benefits of having an open source wireless router."

Comment Re:^_^ (Score 1) 101

by MontyApollo (#22664168) Attached to: "Bilski" Case May End Business Method Patents
I think they mean they are having trouble defining what a "business method" patent is and what would make it unpatentable versus any other type of patent.

I think business method patents got swept in when they started allowing other types of patents, and they will probably have trouble precluding them without also affecting other types of patents (software patents for example.)
Editorial

Submission + - Scientific "proof" and children's cold med

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: My question is have we gone too far in demanding "scientific proof", especially in terms of policy? The emerging policy in regards to children's cold medicine is so contrary to common sense that it startles me to think what else may be going on because of such like minded thinking. Global warning critics have used similar arguments.

A FDA advisory committee announced today that over-the-counter cold medicines should be banned for children under six because in part that there is no proof that they work. However, everyone that has children knows that they do work, and they keep buying them because of it.

Apparently there have not really been many studies testing these drugs for efficacy and safety in children; most direction comes from extrapolation from adult studies. Apparently the fact that they have been used safely for decades by millions of people is insufficient proof of their safety. Like I said it is pretty obvious to anyone with children that they do work as well. It is particularly obvious when a child is coughing nonstop at night while trying to sleep, you give them some medicine, then they stop coughing 30 or so minutes later.

More studies would be good, but why ban them now? And what kind of message does this send to the general public about science? Both the efficacy of OTC children's cold medicine and creationism are both claimed to be scientifically "unproven". Parents know the first one is bullshit. Why would they trust scientists on evolution and creationism?
It's funny. Laugh.

Submission + - DNA Pioneers says Blacks make poor employees (yahoo.com)

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: London's Science Museum canceled a Friday talk by Nobel Prize-winning geneticist James Watson after the co-discoverer of DNA's structure told a newspaper that Africans and Europeans had different levels of intelligence.

James Watson provoked widespread outrage with his comments to The Sunday Times, which quoted the 79-year-old American as saying he was "inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa" because "all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours — whereas all the testing says not really."

He told the paper he hoped that everyone was equal, but added: "people who have to deal with black employees find this not true."
Education

Submission + - Books that substitute for CS degree? 1

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: Are there any good books out there that would be good at concisely covering the key and most important areas of a CS education for those programmers who never obtained a CS degree? I am a self-taught programmer and computer hobbyist with a degree in physics, and I would like to find a book(s) that would give me a better understanding of what I am missing by not having obtained a CS degree. I realize this may involve some differing opinion on what the most important parts were, and I would be interested in hearing everyone's take on this as well. It would also be interesting to hear from an employer perspective about what sets a fresh CS grad with no experience apart from those with a non-CS degree but with some IT experience.
Education

Submission + - POLL: Which major has the smartest people?

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: POLL: Which major has the smartest people?

CS
Math
Physics
Electrical Engineering
Pre-Med/BioChem
Pre-Law
Other
CowboyNeal apprenticeship

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