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Comment Better answer - bring tech to problems of mining (Score 1) 581

by kencurry (#46726877) Attached to: Michael Bloomberg: You Can't Teach a Coal Miner To Code
Mining has problems; no doubt better technology can lessen the impact of those problems. Surely there is a ton of opportunity there. We need the raw materials for energy and we need more efficient ways to get them out of the ground. There is plenty to do, people at all ends of the scale of intelligence, physical strength, emotional depth, personal charm etc. etc. etc. can be gainfully employed doing what needs to be done for their own region of the country.

There is absolutely no need for a one-sized fits all "just teach them to code" statement from anyone, ever.

Comment Re:Higher standards are normal and appropriate (Score 1) 353

by kencurry (#46622635) Attached to: If Ridesharing Is Banned, What About Ride-Trading?

Driver training should not be a requirement. If it isn't a requirement for normal drivers, who use the same roads as the cabs, then why are cab drivers required to get some kind of special training?

Because when you drive other people they are literally entrusting their lives to your driving competence. While you cannot control what other drivers do, we can ensure that the people who do transport others are of a sufficient competency standard to minimize unnecessary risk to passengers. Not all drivers who can pass the basic driving test are sufficiently competent to drive other people in exchange for money. It's the exact same reason we demand that commercial airline pilots have a LOT more training than civil aviation pilots. It's about minimizing risk.

Furthermore, cab drivers/companies are granted a quasi-monopoly on their service. It's perfectly reasonable to insist that the standards be a bit higher in exchange for that privilege.

Car maintenance should not be a requirement. Normal drivers aren't required to follow any special maintenance schedule or get any inspections, so why should cabs?

Because if you want to drive you own heap of junk and endanger your own safety when the axle falls off then that is your choice. When you are transporting other people however, they should have a reasonable expectation that the axle is not going to fall off or that they will not find themselves stranded due reasonably preventable mechanical difficulties.

Bad drivers and dangerously maintained cars affect the other drivers on the road already, and they could have a passenger of their own choosing as well. So, this is nothing new with organized ride-sharing.

Also, as far as the whole "how can you trust a stranger in this system", use rating system with user feedback like ebay does.

Comment Re:Bit coin is highly misunderstood by many (Score 2) 191

by kencurry (#46434599) Attached to: The Tangled Tale of Mt. Gox's Missing Millions
Doesn't this story of MtGox completely invalidate the idea of Bitcoin? It was made to appear safe due to an algorithm, but obviously it can disappear without a trace and then what? There was never any sovereign authority behind that currency. Thus no international muscle to go track down the bad guys or figure out what happened. If anything, the international banking community will simply say "told you so..."

Comment So much to say on this topic (Score 3, Insightful) 313

by kencurry (#46382097) Attached to: Should programming be a required curriculum in public schools?
What are the mandatory subjects that nearly all STEM students think are useless? english & history
What are mandatory STEM subject that nearly everyone else thinks are useless? math, chemistry & physics

Now that we are adults (many of us are now parents also) we can see that this all of it was important and we should have applied ourselves better in high school. We can say "all kids need to learn computing theory, programming etc. because it is important" all we want; but, look how it was when we were young. Ultimately, the lessons I take away as far as educating our kids:

1. We need to pay & respect teachers better to get better results in public education
2. For key STEM subjects, you must find a way to make it relevant to the student TODAY.
3. Parents must work everyday to keep their kids motivated to learn.
4. Bottom line: kids need discipline and fun in their lives in equal measure. Don't beat it into them, motivate them & let them WANT to do it.

Comment Re:The point where I stopped reading (Score 1) 221

by kencurry (#46040553) Attached to: CmdrTaco Launches Trove, a Curated News Startup
Good apps have superior layout and better UI built for the phone/tablet. So, put me down on the other side of the ledger; I use my phone/tablet much more than laptop or desktop and would rather use the app than navigate the webpage on a small screen. If the app sucks however, well that's a different story.

Comment This guy is no dummy (Score 1) 101

by kencurry (#46017895) Attached to: US Geneticist Discusses North Korea Trip With Dennis Rodman
"...In April of 2013, I saw an online auction for charity where people could bid on the chance to play H-O-R-S-E with Dennis Rodman. So I bid and won, ..."

Wow, pretty shrewd, that he saw this opportunity to meet with Rodman and capitalized, furthering his own agenda. A pity that the article only soft-balled some lame questions and didn't get him to comment on the advisory role he played to Rodman's entourage.

Comment Re:units (Score 2) 67

by kencurry (#46005961) Attached to: Comet-Chasing Probe Wakes Up On Monday

"massive solar panels the size of a basketball court,"

can we please have proper units for measuring things in space?

And confuse half of the american audience? Basketball courts they know, meters they don't.

FTFA "...have a total span of about 32 metres tip to tip." Or 105 feet; a basketball court is 94 feet long.

On behalf of the USA, you're welcome.

Comment Re:For 10 cents a day... (Score 1) 554

your citations were all high dose (first one was 30 mg beta carotene PLUS 25000 IU Vit A ); but a Centrum multivitamin is 2500 IU. 10X makes a lot of difference. And, most people like me only take a multivitamin once or twice a week. The authors of the study say that for well-nourished adults, they don't need supplements. Of course, if you are well-nourished, then you don't need supplements.

As would seem obvious, many adults do not eat a well-balanced diet. This would have been a much more intelligent study, to see the affects of supplements on poorly-nourished adults.

Comment Misses the problem entirely (Score 1) 139

by kencurry (#45716903) Attached to: Google Testing Smart Appliance, Would Compete With Nest Thermostat
The main issue with heating/cooling for majority of homes is not that the homeowner can't set or remember to set the thermostat. It is that the house is not properly insulated, there is only one heat/cooling circuit for a multilevel home, or the house has old leaky doors and windows. Once all that infrastructure is properly done, THEN maybe add a cool web-enabled thermostat.

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