Become a fan of Slashdot on Facebook

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×

Comment Re:What do you think happens today? (Score 2, Insightful) 613

So let me see if I get this straight...

The current system allows a taxpayer to be dishonest, but catches him if he is.

The proposed change prevents a taxpayer from being dishonest (by informing him of what the IRS already knows of his finances), and only gives him a chance to correct the records.

So how is catching taxpayer dishonesty an advantage, again?

Comment Re:Frustrating For Developers (Score 4, Informative) 149

by Arslan ibn Da'ud (#28704421) Attached to: Staying Afloat In a Sea of iPhone Apps

Might I recommend that if you wish to provide a link to an iPhone app, don't link directly to iTunes. Not everyone has iTunes installed on every machine? (Last I checked there was no Linux version.) Instead provide a link to your app via AppBeacon.

For instance: Velocity

They mirror the info iTunes provides, also providing a iTunes link. But that way I can review your app on my linux box and buy it directly, or buy it later on my mac laptop. (No, I don't work for AppBeacon, just a satisfied netizen.)

Comment Re:fake vs genuine (Score 1) 385

by Arslan ibn Da'ud (#28597839) Attached to: Railway Workers Get Daily Smile Scans

For people who have to deal with members of the public on a daily basis, being able to produce a smile that seems genuine may make a difference in how their customers perceive their service.

I can't tell a fake smile from a real one, but I sure can spot the oxymoron in that sentence. So the goal is to present a fake smile that others think is genuine?
Government

Senators To Examine Exclusive Handset Deals 234

Posted by kdawson from the baby-steps-toward-openness dept.
narramissic writes "Based on a request that a group of rural operators sent asking the FCC to examine the practice of handset exclusivity, four members of the Commerce Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet sent a letter to the FCC expressing their concern. Small operators, like U.S. Cellular argue (PDF) that 'exclusive handset contracts divide wireless customers into haves and have nots.' But nationwide operators, including Verizon, maintain (PDF) that 'in the absence of exclusivity agreements, wireless carriers would have less incentive to develop and promote innovative handsets.' The Commerce Committee expects to hold a hearing on the issue tomorrow."
Math

Statistical Suspicions In Iran's Election 512

Posted by kdawson from the funny-smell dept.
hoytak writes "An expert in electoral fraud, professor Walter Melbane, has released a detailed analysis (PDF) of available data in Iran's controversial election (summary here). While he did not find significant indications of fraud, he does note that all the deviations from the predicted model are in Ahmadinejad's favor: 'In general, combining the 2005 and 2009 data conveys the impression that a substantial core of the 2009 results reflected natural political process... [These] stand in contrast to the unusual pattern in which all of the notable discrepancies between the support Ahmadinejad actually received and the support the model predicts are always negative. This pattern needs to be explained before one can have confidence that natural election processes were not supplemented with artificial manipulations.'" In related news, EsonLinji notes reports in the Seattle PI and other sources that the US State Department has asked Twitter to delay system maintenance to prevent cutting off Iranians who have been relying on the service during the post-election crisis. And if you would like to help ease the communication crunch, reader RCulpepper tips a blog post detailing how to set up a proxy server for users with Iranian IP addresses.

Comment Re:It's just overpriced, is all. (Score 1) 345

by Arslan ibn Da'ud (#27943749) Attached to: IE Losing 10% Market Share Every Two Years

Clearly, people don't feel the price Microsoft asks for IE is reasonable. They should lower it a bit.

I'll agree to this. Granted the price is not expressed in $ paid by the customer, but rather in $ paid to the Web developer. And to Geek Squad to clean your machine after being pwned by a zero-day.

yeah, I know....WHOOSH!
The Courts

The Circus Widens In Aftermath of Pirate Bay Verdict 319

Posted by kdawson from the buy-me-some-peanuts-and-crackerjacks dept.
MaulerOfEmotards sends along an in-depth followup, from the Swedish press, of our discussion the other day about the biased trial judge in the Pirate Bay case. "The turmoil concerns Tomas Norström, the presiding judge of The Pirate Bay trial, who is suspected of bias after reports surfaced of affiliation with copyright protection organizations. For this he has been reported to the appeals court (in Swedish; translation here). The circus around the judge is currently focused on three points. First, his personal affiliation with at least four copyright protection organizations, a state the potential bias of which he himself fails to see and refuses to admit. Secondly, Swedish trials use a system of several lay assessors to supervise the presiding judge. One of these, a member of an artists' interest organization, was forced by Mr. Norström to resign from the trial for potential bias. The judge's failure to see the obvious contradiction in this (translation) casts doubts on his suitability and competence. Thirdly, according to professor of judicial sociology Håkan Hydén (translation), the judge has inappropriately 'duped and influenced the lay assessors' during the trial: 'a judge that has decided that "this is something we can't allow" has little problem finding legal arguments that are difficult for assisting lay assessors to counter.'" Click the link below to read further on Professor Hydén's enumeration of "at least three strange things in a strange trial." On a related note, reader Siker adds the factoid that membership in the Pirate Party exploded 150% in the week following the verdict. The Pirate Party now surpasses in size four smaller parties in Sweden, and is closing in on a fifth. Political fallout could ensue as soon as June, when an election for EU parliament will be held.

Comment Re:Forever War is fantastic (Score 2, Funny) 296

by Arslan ibn Da'ud (#27647697) Attached to: Ridley Scott's Forever War In 3D

If we were to vote on the next Heinlein book to make into a movie, I would vote for The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. Though they would probably have to severely shorten the first half of it (the lecture half) for the movie adaptation.

Not me. I'd vote for _The Puppet Masters_. That's pretty easy to make into a movie...lots of action & lots of nudity >:D

Slashdot Top Deals

A morsel of genuine history is a thing so rare as to be always valuable. -- Thomas Jefferson

Close