Follow Slashdot stories on Twitter

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror
×

Comment Re:No he didn't (Score 4, Insightful) 217

He did cause the delay.

That is a grossly disingenuous misdescription of the events which took place. What he did was cause his person to be transported from one place to another within the airport. What the security staff did in response was to overreact. They had to do that because they were supposed to stop him from doing what he did. Instead, they noticed it after it happened, and then they went into full batshit panic overreaction mode. That's a typical reaction for law enforcement across the globe. When caught with your pants down, act like it's someone else's fault.

Comment Re:Americans trust science too much (Score 2) 460

If you can cite a study to prove your point you have won the argument.

That's not trusting science too much, that's laziness. Usually the person citing the study has a tenuous grasp of what it really says, and in all but a handful of cases they are betting on the fact that few people will bother to look it up and read it themselves.

You can tell this is what's going on, because it only further polarizes people; if the "study" reinforces their existing view, then it's the best thing ever, and if not then the scientists who did it are clearly corrupt or they're just plain wrong. No attempt to understand, nothing changes, just reinforcement of bias.
=Smidge=

Comment Re:Maybe citizens saw duplicity? (Score 1) 460

For starters, please provide citations for everything you put in quotes.

If scientists were so desperate for money, so easily bought by whoever was willing to pay them, we'd have volumes of studies saying that burning fossil fuels is good for everything from water quality to sex drive, that dumping toxic waste into rivers makes fish taste better, and that tobacco smoking curse cancer.

But we don't. For every study that suggests (or is construed to suggest even though it clearly doesn't) that climate change isn't occurring there's at least a hundred that says it is.

The best explanation I can come up with is that the scientists are not chasing paychecks like some people claim, but are doing their best to honestly study a subject they feel is important and are interested in.
=Smidge=

Comment Re:Anarchy??? (Score 2) 302

It has not descended, it was born as an Anarchy. Internet is anarchic by design.

The internet != TCP/IP.

TCP/IP was designed to be peer-to-peer, and assumed that you could trust your directly connected peers to behave themselves. There's your anarchy. But the internet depends upon things like IP allocation and name resolution, which are the opposite of anarchic.

Comment Re:Rent a Tesla for $1 (Score 1) 335

However, once this very expensive piece of machinery was in the hands of the consumer, there was no way to solve problems.

You went to a mechanic who took the car apart and figured out how to fix it, perhaps going to a machinist to replicate some parts, and most likely doing any other metalworking themselves. Cars were simple things in the early days. Some of the transmissions were a bit of a mess, but you could buy spares ahead of time for the parts which wore or which were likely to break — with a little foresight.

Comment Re:Rent a Tesla for $1 (Score 1) 335

Really, how many mechanics still work on air cooled volkswagens?

There are mechanics everywhere who will work on an air-cooled VW. Probably everywhere in the world that they have cars, more or less. However, shops are another story. You don't need a shop to work on an air-cooled VW. You do, however, have to get connected with whoever actually works on them. Mostly you will want to start at the crustiest auto parts store you can find; in my town that's a Napa, they finally closed the ancient Auto Value — first it became a Napa, then it merged with the Napa and brought their bitchin' parts bins with them with the really old keys, studs, worm screws etc.

So yeah, you're going to have a hard time finding a shop that will work on your VW. Hell, some euro shops don't want to dick with the old Mercedes diesels any more because the guys who knew how to work on them have retired, and they have none of the specialized tools. There are not so many of them, but they are mandatory.

The story is pretty much the same for those cheap Chinese scooters and ATVs. You can't take them to the dealer, since there is no dealer. But anywhere those things are prevalent, there's a bunch of guys who know all about them. They are almost without exception clones of something Japanese, and parts are readily available if you know what to buy. You find someone who knows what they're doing through the local Motorcycle and ATV shop, but probably not at it. They won't want to mess with your POS, in all likelihood, but they'll know who will.

Comment Re:I'd pay for a non-phone flight (Score 4, Funny) 96

Having the screaming kids or the fat, sweaty guy next to you is bad enough. Last thing I want is 200 people yapping on their mobile for several hours.

When someone next to you talks on the phone, it's a hilarious opportunity to fill in the parts of the conversation you can't hear with whatever you want — at the same volume they are using. Bonus points if their mic picks you up and actually mutes whoever they are actually listening to. Double extra bonus points if they become violent, especially since you're on a plane and they'll be headed to federal PMITA prison.

Comment Re:I'd pay for a non-phone flight (Score 1) 96

An american website?I think you'll find the other 95% of the world disagrees with you.

Then 95% of the world is wrong. This is an American site. It's hosted in the USA, it's staffed in the USA... it's American. Sites can have an international audience, but this is still an American site. Japan has its own Slashdot for a reason. They need one. The rest of your English speakers can tag along with us.

Comment Re:Unboxy Therapy Bent 2nd iPhone 6+ w/Witnesses (Score 1) 304

It's not even the back pocket. I carry my Note in my front pocket and if the pockets in my jeans aren't deep enough, I can feel the phone "flexing" a bit in my pocket.

I killed several palm PDAs and one wince PDA in my front pants pocket while driving due to canyon carving with inadequate lateral support. I've had a whopping two smartphones so far, Xperia Play and Nexus 4, and they hold up fine but yes, I occasionally feel the same thing. Then I take the damned phone out of my pocket and put it somewhere else. Nobody should be putting their phone in their back pocket. That's daft. Not only does it risk destruction by ass, but it's a good way to get it stolen unless you have pants so tight it's going to give you robobuttock.

Slashdot Top Deals

He has not acquired a fortune; the fortune has acquired him. -- Bion

Working...