Comment Too many secrets (Score 1) 98
More than an hour in and no one has even made a passing reference to 'My Socrates Note' yet?
For shame....
For shame....
Submission + - R.I.P. Robin WIlliams (cnn.com)
wjsteele writes: Several news agencies, including CNN are reporting that Robin Williams, famed comedian, has died at his home in California. He was 63.
Submission + - Google Reinstating Some 'Forgotten' Links (bbc.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Only days after receiving harsh criticism from all corners of the internet for taking down links to news articles, Google has started to reinstate those links. Google's Peter Barron denied that they were simply granting all "right to be forgotten" requests. "The European Court of Justice [ECJ] ruling was not something that we welcomed, that we wanted — but it is now the law in Europe and we are obliged to comply with that law," he said. Still, Google's actions are being called "tactical" for how quickly they were able to stir public dissent over the EU ruling. "It's convenient, then, that it's found a way to get the media to kick up the fuss for it: there are very few news organisations in the world who are happy to hear their output is being stifled. A few automated messages later, the story is back in the headlines – and Google is likely to be happy about that."
Author Charles Stross: Is Amazon a Malignant Monopoly, Or Just Plain Evil? 405
An anonymous reader writes "Sci-fi author Charles Stross has a post providing insight into Amazon's recent bullying tactics against a major book publishing group. He puts the fight into perspective for the two most important parts of the book market: author and reader. He says: 'Amazon's strategy (as I noted in 2012) is to squat on the distribution channel, artificially subsidize the price of ebooks ("dumping" or predatory pricing) to get consumers hooked, rely on DRM on the walled garden of the Kindle store to lock consumers onto their platform, and then to use their monopsony buying power to grab the publishers' share of the profits. If you're a consumer, in the short term this is good news: it means you get cheap books. But if you're a reader, you probably like to read new books. By driving down the unit revenue, Amazon makes it really hard for publishers—who are a proxy for authors—to turn a profit. Eventually they go out of business, leaving just Amazon as a monopoly distribution channel retailing the output of an atomized cloud of highly vulnerable self-employed piece-workers like myself. At which point the screws can be tightened indefinitely. And after a while, there will be no more Charlie Stross novels because I will be unable to earn a living and will have to go find a paying job. TL:DR; Amazon's strategy against Hachette is that of a bullying combine the size of WalMart leaning on a much smaller supplier. And the smaller supplier in turn relies on really small suppliers like me. It's anti-author, and in the long term it will deprive you of the books you want to read.'"
Comment Re:Security through Antiquity? (Score 1) 481
Have a source for the mines-in-panels claim? Intriguing idea but I can't find anything about it.
Comment Re:Such a stupid click-bait article (Score 1) 353
I guess I shouldn't be surprised at the actual size of the Bugatti, either, given the differences I highlighted above.
In actuality, the Bugatti has a 28% larger wing area (despite its smaller wingspan) than the Bf109. They're also quite comprable in length - the 100P is only a meter (i.e. 11%) shorter.
In actuality, the Bugatti has a 28% larger wing area (despite its smaller wingspan) than the Bf109. They're also quite comprable in length - the 100P is only a meter (i.e. 11%) shorter.
Comment Re:Such a stupid click-bait article (Score 1) 353
When you're arguing against sloppy writing, don't exaggerate the size differences among the contemporary planes.
Yes, the P-47, a ground attack fighter, is bulkier -- dramatically, even -- than the P-51 or Bf109 interceptors. However, it's only 4 feet wider and longer than the Mustang - about 10% more. Compared to the Messerschmitt, it's 25% longer and wider, and 32% taller. The Thunderbolt would barely be twice, not three times as large - and that's only if using a gross overestimation like comparing the total cubic volume of their bounding boxes.
See same-scale models for a side-by-side comparison of the difference. Dramatic? Yes. Three times the size? No.
TL;DR - The Bf109 is between three quarters to four fifths the size of a P-47, not 'one third' as claimed above.
Yes, the P-47, a ground attack fighter, is bulkier -- dramatically, even -- than the P-51 or Bf109 interceptors. However, it's only 4 feet wider and longer than the Mustang - about 10% more. Compared to the Messerschmitt, it's 25% longer and wider, and 32% taller. The Thunderbolt would barely be twice, not three times as large - and that's only if using a gross overestimation like comparing the total cubic volume of their bounding boxes.
See same-scale models for a side-by-side comparison of the difference. Dramatic? Yes. Three times the size? No.
TL;DR - The Bf109 is between three quarters to four fifths the size of a P-47, not 'one third' as claimed above.
Submission + - Ask Slashdot: What's there to like about the BETA? (slashdot.org) 7
Narnie writes: I come to /. not for the nearly interesting pseudo-tech articles, but for the lively, self-moderated discussion. Today I'm bit surprised to see every discussion summarized to fuckbeta. Popping up all over the place there's discussions about beta and even alternatives being revived and created. As I tend not to RTFA, I haven't sampled the beta myself. So, I ask you guys, what's there to like about the BETA and what's there to loath?
Submission + - Slashdot users give new beta design a huge Bronx cheer 2
Presto Vivace writes: Alice Marshall reports that:
Slashdot users are extremely unhappy with the new Slashdot Beta design. The comment section of every single post is devoted to dissatisfaction with the new design.
... ... The thing to keep in mind about community sites devoted to user generated content is that the users generate the content.
Submission + - Dice runs scared. 6
cfulton writes: Slashdot management was found hiding under their desks today after a full scale nuclear meltdown on their site. Unable to post a reasonable reply to the thousands of negative comments on their BETA format, they simply modded down all the relevant comments. Then after running around the office for a while they all hid under their desks hoping it would all just go away.
Submission + - Slashdot Beta SUCKS (slashdot.org)
DroolTwist writes: My scoop? Slashdot beta sucks. I'm definitely joining slashcott. Thanks for the years of entertaining and knowledgeable discussion, slashdotters. While I mainly lurked, I learned so much from discussions.
Submission + - slashdot drives away people with beta 2
An anonymous reader writes: For many months now, people have been quietly redirected to slashdot's beta site (beta.slashdot.org). Any negative feedback of the beta is ignored and/or disavowed. The majority of viewers do not like the beta — resulting in major loss of viewership.
Will slashdot alienate existing users of the site and keep pushing the beta OR will it keep the users and boot the beta?
Will slashdot alienate existing users of the site and keep pushing the beta OR will it keep the users and boot the beta?
Submission + - beta is shit 2
An anonymous reader writes: beta is shit
Submission + - Your beta ruined the site. Congrats. (slashdot.org) 3
An anonymous reader writes: Your beta ruined the site. Congrats.
Submission + - Slashdot after beta - Paywall? 2
An anonymous reader writes: Is the beta hinting at other changes in the near future?
