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Comment Re:straight from the OMFG NO dept (Score 2) 364

Has to be budget. Seeing as most comments here said the earlier seasons were better (I haven't watched in a couple of years as well), ratings are probably dropping. And with that comes reductions in ad revenue. And with that comes cost reduction.

In fact, IMDB ratings of the show, have fallen from 7.5 to 6.5 over the course of the show (turn on the Series Trendline):
http://graphtv.kevinformatics....

Why all three? Who knows? But they each have a kick ass resume, that's for sure.

Comment Re:Simulations are limited by imagination (Score 4, Insightful) 173

For example, you might test the scenarios "front camera obscured by rain", "car ahead of you performs emergency stop", and "dog runs into street", but that doesn't necessarily tell you how the car will respond to a combination of the three.

This seems backwards to me. Testing combinations of scenarios happening simultaneously would be far easier in a simulator.

Comment Re:Not my kind of person. (Score 1) 465

My paycheck comes almost entirely from people paying for software, but I don't think that someone "stealing" that software - i.e. infringing copyright - deserves jail time. Make him liable for damages, sure. Force him to pay them out from the part of his paycheck for a while - sufficiently long to make a point - sure. But there's no justice nor value to be had from putting him behind bars.

Comment Re:The real crime here (Score 1) 465

You are forgetting that there are victims of crimes, and those victims have a right to justice, and part of justice involves incarcerating people for certain crimes.

"Justice" is a societal construct. 500 years ago, "justice" for the crime of theft was often losing a hand (it still is in some societies). 300 years ago in UK, "justice" for petty theft was hanging. 50 years ago, "justice" for having sex in private with a person of the same gender was up to 10 years in prison in some US states.

Comment Get one that Amazon Sells, not Fulfills (Score 4, Interesting) 131

Amazon offers 30 day returns. If it fails fast they will take it back. Be wary of items they just fulfill, return policies vary (and Amazon has great service). Compare the manufacturers warranties, ask a question on the Amazon item pages.

Read the most recent reviews. I've seen several "different item/different serial #" issues with Dell batteries. Items presented can change over time, they are mutable.

Don't rush. You've been putting up with the performance you are seeing, you can take it another week or two.

Anyway, that's how I buy batteries...

Comment Re:Seems to be working really well... (Score 1) 391

ISIS is much, much more than just Sunni. They are more like the modern reincarnation of the Kharijites.

And the only reason why they have as much power and prominence as they do, is because we kicked Saddam out, helped kick Gaddafi out, and supported the attempts to kick Assad out. By rooting out secular dictators, we unleashed the force that they have contained.

Comment Re:I skipped to the ending (Score 2, Interesting) 49

If that's the ultimate censorship case for China? Air-Gapping the whole world and using its own countrywide Intranet?

No. China is not going to do that. People in the West often misunderstand the Great Firewall of China (GFoC). It is relatively easy to bypass, and Chinese people are generally better informed about what is going on in the world than people in most other countries. Keeping information out is not really the point. In the West, there are three types of information: 1) Information that the government approves of and promotes, 2) Information that the government prohibits (child porn, holocaust denialism, videos of journalist beheadings, etc), and 3) information that the government tolerates or just doesn't care about. But in China (and many other countries) the third category doesn't exist. If people see something, and the government isn't banning it, then they assume it has the government's approval. So part of the reason for the GFoC is to say "This isn't official information". People can bypass the GFoC, and see the information, but they know the government has disapproved. Chinese people also have a very different view of dissent. in the West, toleration of dissent is a symbol of strength, and being thin skinned about criticism is viewed as weakness. When Obama lashed out at Fox News a few years ago, he was factually correct, but it still made him look small and petty. But in other countries, including China and Russia, if someone in power is criticized, and they don't fight back, they are viewed as weak. The Chinese Communist Party has no democratic mandate, and no legitimacy other than power, so they cannot afford to look weak. So the GFoC is really a symbol of strength and power rather than an attempt to actually block information.

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