Want to read Slashdot from your mobile device? Point it at m.slashdot.org and keep reading!

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror
×

Comment Re:What amazes me about SAIC (Score 1) 51

I don't think they are any worse then any other federal contractor. The entire defense industry is quite adroit at extracting funds from the govt. SAIC doesn't hold a candle to some other large entities in this regard. This incident was lack of oversight, but the fault lies with 2 corrupt employees. Individual criminal acts, not corporate malfeasance. That said, the entire parasitic industry needs to be severely limited for the benefit of the country. Value versus spending is way out of whack and the taxpayers are taking it in the shorts.

Comment Curses (Score 1) 467

luckily I am old enough to still benefit from ignorance. I am able to visualize such things while coding without aide. It has always been a competitive advantage. If you generalize it via a video component to all coders, it levels the playing field. The gifted super coders, who I suspect can all do this visualization in their head, will simply be rendered normal. Unfortunate, but predictable in the long line of jarring advancements. Bravo! The really interesting part of this to me is I bet that is how most great coders think implicitly. I bet that is why a great coder is 10 or more times more productive with fewer errors than average. Let's call it visual coding and whether it is computer aided or God given, it is very productive.

Comment Governments have lost their power over information (Score 1) 181

Most of it was illegitimately obtained anyway. The rise of the individual on the world stage is upon us. Free speech is now a threat to government? Wait, aren't they supposed to represent us? Is it until we become uppity? When do democracies become despots? When media companies bankroll campaigns? Bought and paid for. So much for individuals.

Comment My wife handles the banking (Score 1) 80

and my daughters use her computer. I have little doubt it has been hacked as I've had to re-image it several times. I can not convince my wife to use a live CD for online banking. I guess it will take us getting wiped out to drive home this point. There is an inflection point between prudence and convenience. Woman are especially non prudent (I want to access my bank when I need it, I am not going to reboot) This is a larger problem of identity that needs solving. It is big bucks now. We need a secure solution. As as a professional coder, I do not see one. Anything on the net can be hacked. Voting machines? On the net, consider the election stolen. Heck, just electronic voting, consider the election stolen. Nothing electronic is immune and all of it is vulnerable. Stinks, but that is reality.

Comment How long until the P2P aspects get a red flag? (Score 1) 254

I imagine some corporate interest, perhaps do no evil Google, will come up with a copyright take down notice on the system. Add to that, but user derived content makes it vulnerable to special interests, like say, child porn advocates. This just sounds like a bad idea all the way round. Some kind of crowd sourced scoring would be needed to filter bad content. Not easy when the crowd grows to a million plus. Accurate, but unwieldy. I think I might wait for 2.0.

Comment Attend a conference to broaden your horizons (Score 2) 516

Something like No Fluff Just Stuff or the ilk. It recharges my batteries and opens my mind to new ideas and techniques. I went to Strata last year and big data is very appealing. Find out what gets you excited about coding and go after it. Find your passion and you will find your place. Sounds like a change of scenery is certainly in order, but first, find what gets you interested and you will find your next niche.
Image

Corporations Hiring Hooky Hunters 610

No longer satisfied with your crinkled doctor's note, a growing number of corporations are hiring "Hooky Detectives." Private investigator Rick Raymond says he's staked out bowling alleys, pro football games, weddings and even funerals looking for people using sick days. From the article: "Such techniques have become permissible at a time when workers are more likely to play hooky. Kronos, a workforce productivity firm in Chelmsford, Mass., recently found that 57 percent of salaried employees take sick days when they're not sick — almost a 20 percent increase from statistics gathered between 2006 and 2008."

Comment Fight government hegemony (Score 1) 1155

get everyone to carry around virgin laptops, thus the feds will be consumed pursuing dead ends. The whole, we have rights to your data just flies so in the face of the 1st amendment, it is worth the citizens to carry unbreakable encryption just cause. Nothing illegal, just a nuisance. I am a libertarian. The counter veiling policy is everyone is some kind of terrorist. Just absurd. We need to fight this total power grab under the guise of terror preparation. The number of people meaning harm is tiny. The number of citizens is great and all under the gun. That is bas ackwards. Let's restore individual liberty in this environment of wacko violence.

Comment pitifully easy to create a false persona online (Score 1) 554

so create one and use it exclusively. Maintain your real name persona as dull and lifeless. Corporate goodness ensues. Honestly, I fail to see the validity in this. Just too easy to be a different age, profession or even gender online. This test will trap the morons, but not much else. No excuse for due diligence in the hiring process. There just is no substitute for doing the hard research on an applicant.

Comment Re:Boondoggle (Score 1) 1139

I sat in hour long traffic getting into DC to take the key bridge because the American Legion bridge on the outer loop was jammed with an accident seven miles further down that closed 2 left lanes of 4. I could sit and wait for an hour and hope to clear the accident or detour. I detoured, but still took an hour because traveling by car down River Road to Wisconsin Av and onto the Key Bridge pretty much sucks with pedestrians, other cars parallel parking and delivery trucks. Smooth it was not. Did it save me time? Debatable. Did it make me wish I took the Marc train today? Yep. The big issue I have is trains run into a city center. Not the other way. Because I live on the opposite side of the city from my job, the train becomes a burden over driving. Generally, 2 hours each way riding (bus to train to metro to bus, bus to metro to train to bus) Sorry, mass trans that I favor loses. The DC area really needs a purple line that runs around the beltway and serves the major commercial sectors. Not everyone works inside DC and not everyone lives outside the city center. Not a destination for most. Serve the people and mass transit makes uber sense. Not serve them and it fails. Simple really.
Image

Indian Police Using Facebook to Catch Scofflaw Drivers 130

New Delhi police have a new weapon in the battle against bad drivers, Facebook. Two months ago the police created a Facebook page that allowed people to inform on others breaking traffic laws, and upload pictures of the violations. The page has more than 17,000 fans, and 3,000 pictures currently. From the article: "The online rap sheet was impressive. There are photos of people on motorcycles without helmets, cars stopped in crosswalks, drivers on cellphones, drivers in the middle of illegal turns and improperly parked vehicles. Using the pictures, the Delhi Traffic Police have issued 665 tickets, using the license plate numbers shown in the photos to track vehicle owners, said the city’s joint commissioner of traffic, Satyendra Garg."

Comment Governments are the problem, not the solution (Score 5, Insightful) 281

they have no right whatsoever to read email traffic. Terrorists have officially won as government is leveraging attacks to increase their power over all. Wake up people, government is the problem. Terrorists, even when very successful, effect a tiny percentage of a population. Yet, the government grows more powerful over all in order to supposedly protect the population. This is about control, not protection. Such a shame that so may are willing to throw away their rights in the face of terror. The terrorists have won. Now they are fighting over who will control the levers of power. The citizens have already lost all liberty.

Comment Oh Katrina why won't you set us free? (Score 1) 260

set us free now? This calls into question the entire creative commons. What is fair artist use and what is corporate greed? Where is the line? The RIAA? They are the zombies, already fully subsumed. What is the next step? What comes after the nightmare of the RIAA? What's next because these guys are seriously what was. Where does the next fair use doctrine arise and who does it protect, the artists? the record companies? The consumer? How about all three?
Piracy

The Pirate Bay's Founding Organization Shuts Down 107

kcurtis sent the news that Piratbryån, the lobbying organization out of which The Pirate Bay sprang, has disbanded. (The torrent tracker is alive and well.) "Piratbyrån had many purposes, but could be described as a pro-piracy lobbying organization. It was founded in response to Antipiratbyrån, the local anti-piracy outfit in Sweden. The goal was to start a debate on copyright issues and how they affect society. Until then, most press in Sweden would simply take everything Antipiratbyrån said for granted. Internationally, Piratbyrån is mostly known for launching The Pirate Bay in the fall of 2003, just a few months after the group itself was founded. ... The final decision to disband the group came after Ibi Kopimi Botani, a prominent member and co-founder of the group, passed away. Without one of its greatest minds, the group would never be the same again, Piratbyrån's members felt."
Image

Study Shows Standing Up To Bullies Is Good For You 458

It will come as no surprise to anyone who's ever talked to my grandpa, but a recent study has shown that standing up to a bully is good for you. Although being bullied can be stressful and lead to depression, children who returned hostility were found more likely to develop healthy social and emotional skills. From the article: "In a study of American children aged 11 and 12, researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles, compared those who stood up to aggressors with those who did not. Children who returned hostility with hostility appeared to be the most mature, the researchers found. Boys who stood up to bullies and schoolyard enemies were judged more socially competent by their teachers. Girls who did the same were more popular and more admired by teachers and peers, the researchers found."

Slashdot Top Deals

Software production is assumed to be a line function, but it is run like a staff function. -- Paul Licker

Working...