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Comment Re:I do my part (Score 1) 48

I don't know how they do it now, and I never fully understood how the cook went as it was above my pay grade and housing, but I recall super-clean 32 gallon (or so) plastic trash cans w/lids in Saudi Arabia full of beer stuff & yeast as part of the process which I'll abbreviate. Mind you all of that stuff you might have heard about 'compounds for expats' did *not* apply in this place. When/if a room air conditioner conked out, a *serious* condition exists. Since a passer-by walking past the residence would hopefully notice the non-working A/C unit where a window might otherwise be if no one was home, certain folks knew to make calls discretely and illicit an immediate response. Yes, failures and exploding, smelly beer bottles did happen. Oh those were wild and sometimes, too many times, they were stressful times. To my knowledge, none of us from back then have taken up the hobby at home since. Don't think anyone wants to recall the stress, let alone the labor. But I do appreciate it when someone takes such care to cook, along with their skill and techniques. I also like the easily availability of good, cold beer in civilized countries. Wine too! (Don't get me started on how we made wine either, I really, really like store bought wine now!)

Comment Re:Expert. (Score 3, Interesting) 358

Bono is rich and famous and a leader of his music/concert/marketing industry, and for many people, that's what counts. Whether or not his new digital music format can or cannot be pirated is something that remains to be seen, and is so far away in the future, that you can ignore the rest of his words that the media is propagating today. (And history, regarding piracy in a technical sense, is not on Bono's side. I'll bet against Sir Bono).

Comment Re: I never thought I'd say this... (Score 1) 353

Maybe you should consider living somewhere else than if you want a career in IT. Through all of history the characteristics and features of a geographic location have dictated the type of economic activity that goes on there.

Umm, I am not so sure I agree with what you have just written. Isn't the very industry of Information Technology based upon the predicate of a solution in response to a requirement?

Comment Re:Hmmm .... (Score 1) 112

That's a fascinating wikipedia article you cited. Off-topic, but I was impressed by the caption underneath the FedEx aircraft that reads, "FedEx became the first U.S. carrier to equip its aircraft with an anti-missile defense system in 2006. The gray oval Northrop Grumman Guardian pod can be seen on the belly of this FedEx MD-10 between and just aft of the main landing gear."

Wow. If only Flight MH-17 had that stuff; really makes one think about airliners in 2014.

Comment Re:Why should programmers help Apple make billions (Score 1) 183

Not only that, but why as a developer would you want to limit yourself to a single OS, never-mind that this one has an evil overlord with its own interests at heart? And FWIW, how come no one in their right mind uses Active X web extensions either?

-"A man has got to know his limitations." -Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry, mocking the guy who said it to him first.

Submission + - Corporate FOSS Users seek to tell developers what to do.

jralls writes: OK, maybe the headline is a tiny bit inflammatory. The New York Times broke a story today (paywalled if you look at more than 10 stories a month) about ToDo, "an open group of companies who run open source programs" who are seeking to "committed to working together in order to overcome" the challenges of using FOSS, "including ensuring high-quality and frequent releases, engaging with developer communities, and using and contributing back to other projects effectively". The more militant among us will read that as "It's not enough getting a free ride off of developers building great software, we want to shove our roadmap down their throats and get them to work harder for us — without having to pay for it, of course." That might be a bit harsh, but none of the companies on the page are exactly well known for cooperating with the projects they use, with Google being one of the worst offenders by forking both Linux and WebKit.

Submission + - Funding Tech For Government, Instead of Tech For Industry (washingtonpost.com)

An anonymous reader writes: If you're a creative engineer looking to build a product, you're probably going to end up starting your own business or joining another one. That's where ideas get funding, and that's where products make money. Unfortunately, it also siphons a lot of the tech-related talent away from government (and by extension, everybody else), who could really benefit from this creative brilliance. That's why investor Ron Bouganim just started a $23 million fund for investment in tech companies that develop ideas for the U.S. government. Not only is he hoping to transfer some of the $74 billion spent annually by the government on technology to more efficient targets, but also to change the perception that the best tech doesn't necessarily come from giant, entrenched government contractors.

Submission + - Australia's Submarine Play: Run Silent, Run Japanese? (nationalinterest.org)

An anonymous reader writes: Australia resides in a tough neighborhood. China is rising and building weapons that soon will have the ability to hit most targets in Asia thanks to advances in ballistic and cruise missiles. At the same time, Australia sells China a ton of natural resources--making Beijing its largest trading partner. So needless to say Australia needs to hedge its bets. Other nations around the region are building advanced, conventional arms as fast as possible. But they are also working together to develop systems that can compete with China just in case conflict did ever occur. It seems Australia will be buying Japanese submarines--some of the most advanced in the world.

The deal looks promising, and much more affordable than a domestic solution while Australia gets one of the worlds most advanced subs:

"By all accounts, Australia will be getting a good deal. At roughly $1.87 billion dollars each, the Soryu-class submarines are a bargain against Future Submarine Program projections of $3 to $5 billion each. Yet the decision to buy Japanese is a politically risky one for the government of Prime Minister Tony Abbott. A survey by the Australian Industry Group estimated a next Australia generation submarine program would employ “about 5,000 workers and 1,000 Australian businesses”.

Submission + - Google's Android One initiative launches in India with three $100 phones

An anonymous reader writes: Google has unveiled its first set of Android One low-cost smartphones in the Indian market, partnering with Indian hardware vendors Spice, Micromax and Karbonn. The three phones will be available online on Flipkart, Amazon and Snapdeal and via Reliance Digital, Croma and The Mobile Store, offline. The phones provide a minimum set of features determined by Google, which has sourced several of the components to help cut manufacturing costs. The company has also teamed up with a local network to make it cheaper to download Android updates and new apps.

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