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Comment Re:My opinion on the matter. (Score 1) 826

making the init system a large complex system that does lots of things rather than the old school ideology of doing one thing and doing it well

Which init scripts didn't do. They approximated what's really dependency system (B and C need A to be up before starting, and D needs both) with a bunch of sequentyally-ran numbered scripts. The end result was both inefficient and fragile.

Comment Cool? No. Common? Workhorse? Yes. (Score 1) 511

I doubt too many people think a cast iron pan is cool. Yet it can be used to bake, broil, fry, sauté, reduce, and more.

Is mergesort cool? Are linked lists and hash tables cool? They are common building blocks, but are very useful.

Is DRAM cool? Are x86_64 processors sexy?

Is the Honda Accord or the Toyota Camry "bitchin'"?

Are asphalt shingles as impressive as a slate roof?

When your job calls for a sturdy workhorse, you don't need a thoroughbred racehorse. You don't haul gravel in a Huracan. If your project calls for Java, or C++, or Fortran, Ada, or even for COBOL then you use what gets the job done. If it calls for rapid deployment from a small team, you might use Perl, Python, Ruby, Javascript, or even a shell script. If you need Erlang, Forth, Swift, some assembly language, or some Basic dialect due to platform, existing code, etc then you just suck it up and do that. If you have a chance to do greenfield development and can pick your language, pick anything that works.

If you're in a Java shop working on a Java project, you write and debug Java. Sometimes there's more than one right tool for the job, but you use the one everyone in your workshop has and can use.

Medicine

13-Year-Old Finds Fungus Deadly To AIDS Patients Growing On Trees 134

An anonymous reader writes Researchers have pinpointed the environmental source of fungal infections that have been sickening HIV/AIDS patients in Southern California for decades. It literally grows on trees. The discovery is based on the science project of a 13-year-old girl, who spent the summer gathering soil and tree samples from areas around Los Angeles hardest hit by infections of the fungus named Cryptococcus gattii.
Power

Princeton Nuclear Fusion Reactor Will Run Again 147

mdsolar writes with good news for the National Spherical Torus Experiment. Tucked away from major roadways and nestled amid more than 80 acres of forest sits a massive warehouse-like building where inside, a device that can produce temperatures hotter than the sun has sat cold and quiet for more than two years. But the wait is almost over for the nuclear fusion reactor to get back up and running at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. "We're very excited and we're all anxious to turn that machine back on," said Adam Cohen, deputy director for operations at PPPL. The National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) has been shut down since 2012 as it underwent a $94 million upgrade that will make it what officials say will be the most powerful fusion facility of its kind in the world. It is expected to be ready for operations in late winter or early spring, Cohen said.

Comment Re:Stock is at a record high (Score 1) 90

Apple the corporation exists to enhance shareholder value. All corporations do.

You do realize that every legal entity that counts as a person under the law is a corporation, right? This includes such non-profit entities as cities and towns.

Apple doesn't design attractive platforms for developers for entertainment, or because they love changing the world. They do it to increase shareholder value.

That's probably the biggest threat facing Apple in the post-Jobs era. There seems to be a rather ironic trend that those corporations which focus on "enhancing shareholder value" are worse at it than those which focus on delivering goods and services.

Comment Re:Raptor? (Score 1) 108

After Marcus Aurelius, every subsequent Caesar had less ability to change the trajectory of the Empire thanks to the political realities imposed by the bureaucracy. They had to act within the constraints of the previously established bureaucracies.

You're almost speaking as if the rulers having a check on their power was a bad thing. And of all the rulers you could had chosen, you chose the infamously nasty and insane Roman emperors.

Is your post supposed to be some kind of parody?

Comment Re:Don't feed the parasites! (Score 1) 316

It was a rhetorical question. Doesn't seem so hard to figure that one out.

What was? You didn't ask a question, rhetoric or otherwise, you made a straight-up assertion. Moreover, rhetorical constructs still carry content, and your content - that people should be able to attack others without being criticized - is simply wrong.

I agree with that, but I don't see any "outright evil" in supporting a group someone belongs to.

It's okay to support a group you belong to. It's not okay to do so by trying to harm other groups.

Unless you think the blacks who support affirmative action are also outright evil, as are gay people who support marriage equality.

Since you brought this up: it's the anti-gay that really gives your game away. Gay marriage doesn't affect anyone but gays in any way, so demonstrated by countries that already have it, so opposing it is not a matter of "supporting a group you belong to", but some mix of malice and sheer insanity.

Anyway, I'm done arguing with what's almost certainly a sock puppet. Wallow in your filth if you must, just know the days you could do so in public yet pretend respectability are gone. And good riddance.

Comment Re:Don't feed the parasites! (Score 1) 316

I thought people were allowed to have their own beliefs in this country without others attacking them for it.

Why would you think so, when the very First Amendment guarantees freedom of speech?

But to call someone out like you did, simply because they might believe something you don't like, is bullshit.

However, attacking someone for spreading an outright evil belief is perfectly okay.

Comment Re:They always told me I was so smart... (Score 1) 243

Intelligence isn't a liability. Trying to tell other people they are wrong all the time is a liability.

Mmmm.... no. Anything that makes you stand out in any way whatsoever is a liability, since it makes you a target. Intelligence is especially bad since it marks you as a potential future rival but won't boost your current ability to defend yourself.

Childhood is a jungle, and children are beasts.

Comment Re:Do the math (Score 1) 338

I love them. And I will try to keep getting them.

Bragging about driving an overpowered sports car or a pickup might impress someone. Bragging about using an overpowered vacuum cleaner is very unlikely to. It might work as a comedy sketch, though.

But in return I have to actually plan out when I'm going to wash my clothes because it takes twice as long.

...Your point?

Google

Finding an ISIS Training Camp Using Google Earth 134

An anonymous reader writes: Terrorist organization ISIS has been in the news a lot lately for their hostile activities in Iraq and Syria. They've also been very active online, posting propaganda and photos on various social networking sites to try to recruit more members. Frequently, they'll have pictures of themselves in nondescript locations — but even carefully selected images give clues to a real location. Citizen journalists at Bellingcat analyzed a group of these photos, comparing buildings and bridges in the background to images from Google Earth. With very little to go on, they were able to pinpoint the location of a terrorist training camp.

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