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Comment Re:Curious (Score 2) 122

I signed up for a MOOC in a subject I was really interested in, discovered that it was a clusterfuck that I couldn't get anything out of, and gave up on it. It didn't cost me money, but in terms of setting aside time for it, emotional investment, and spending time trying to get something useful out of it, it was hardly a zero-risk scenario. The notion that it's just a matter of sticktoitiveness and motivation to finish one of those things ignores the fact that anonymous education from unavailable instructors has no value to many people.
Iphone

Apple Again Seeks Ban On 20+ Samsung Devices In US 235

An anonymous reader notes that Apple has renewed its patent attack against Samsung, asking U.S. District Court Judge Lucy Koh to prohibit Samsung from selling over 20 different phones and tablets. Apple made a similar request after it won a $1 billion judgment in 2012, but Koh did not allow it. An Appeals court later ruled that Apple could resubmit its request if it focused on the specific features at the center of the 2012 verdict, and that's what we're seeing today. Apple's filing said, "Samsung’s claim that it has discontinued selling the particular models found to infringe or design around Apple's patents in no way diminishes Apple’s need for injunctive relief. ... Because Samsung frequently brings new products to market, an injunction is important to providing Apple the relief it needs to combat any future infringement by Samsung through products not more than colorably different from those already found to infringe."

Comment Re: Yes, because moderation is oh so hard to do (Score 5, Informative) 384

If you think that the problem is "a few negative comments", you haven't looked at the responses posted on any news sites lately. I won't even look at the comments sections on the web site of my local metropolitan newspaper, let alone post anything: they are a rancid stew of idiocy, bigotry, and partisan attacks.

Comment stepwise! (Score 2) 606

You start them with the pure point-and-clicky GUI they already know, then show them scripting tools like in Adobe's apps and and Apple's OS that allow them to automate those points and clicks, then show them how those actions can be customized after the fact, then get down into how those actions are coded, and how code can be combined and reassembled to do other things, and with enough iterations of this process, you've got them writing bash scripts.
Earth

Sun Not a Significant Driver of Climate Change 552

damn_registrars writes "Scientists from Edinburgh, Scotland have recently published a study based on 1,000 years of climate data. They have compared the effects of differing factors including volcanic activity, solar activity, and greenhouse gases to find which has the most profound effect on climate. They have concluded that the driving factor since 1900 has been greenhouse gases."

Comment You could do a lot worse (Score 1) 340

I have a Lenovo Thinkpad X60 that I've used for several years as a drawing tablet. (I assume the models being sold for this are without the very-proprietary patented Wacom digitizer). The swivel hinges don't hold up too well to abuse (I've had to do a "hip replacement" on mine), but it's otherwise a good piece of hardware for its day.
United States

Oregon Signs Up Just 44 People For Obamacare Despite Spending $300 Million 586

cold fjord writes "The Washington Examiner reports, 'Oregon ... signed up just 44 people for insurance through November, despite spending more than $300 million on its state-based exchange. The state's exchange had the fewest sign-ups in the nation, according to a new report today by the Department of Health and Human Services. The weak number of sign-ups undercuts two major defenses of Obamacare from its supporters. One defense was that state-based exchanges were performing a lot better than the federal healthcare.gov website servicing 36 states. But Oregon's website problems have forced the state to rely on paper applications to sign up participants. Another defense of the Obama administration has attributed the troubled rollout of Obamacare to the obstruction of Republican governors who wanted to see the law fail as well as a lack of funding. But Oregon is a Democratic state that embraced Obamacare early and enthusiastically.'"

Comment Doomed (Score 1) 225

Doom came out around the time that I lost interest in gaming. I think the fact that the medium was overtaken by first-person shooters was part of the reason.

Comment Re:iPad (Score 5, Insightful) 370

Did you read the question? How are the cameras and higher resolution worth anything to a man in his 70s who just wants to read e-mail and watch movies? The high pixel density on the latest displays is wasted on someone with declining eyesight and presbyopia (and encourages app developers who don't understand this to use tiny fonts, just because they can). And I can't recall the last time I used a camera while reading e-mail or watching a movie. He was asking about a tablet for his father, not for you.

Comment Re:How hard is it? (Score 1) 408

"I do love the headphone jack. Simple, easy, and universal." And as doomed as POTS and broadcast NTSC. The headphone jack is currently the constraining design factor that prevents phones and tablets from getting any thinner. I guarantee you that Apple is working on a flat (reversible) replacement for the iPhone 6 or 7 or 8; the only question (other than when) is whether it'll be an open standard that will (over a few years) be embraced by the rest of the industry, proprietary to Apple, or something halfway in between that gets adopted by some manufacturers but not others and splits the media-playing industry into VHS and Beta again.

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