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Comment Re:Isn't the FB Newsfeed a giant experiment anyway (Score 1) 219

I have to agree. The comments on these articles is much ado about nothing. This is news for nerds and the nerd response should be followup questions. What did the research show? What does that mean about humans? Did people from different cultures and backgrounds react differently? etc.

The responses we see here are less nerd-like and more political.

Comment Re:How does a country lead in patents? (Score 2) 86

Either you misread my question, or I have no idea how I'm supposed to interpret your answer: If patents only apply to the country they are filed in, how did China file for 2200 patents? Do they really mean that Chinese companies filed for 2200 US patents? Or do they mean Chinese companies filed for 2200 Chinese patents? Samsung is a Korean company, as another comment mentioned, so the lawsuit you mentioned doesn't really make sense.

Comment Re:The real issue is stopping bandwidth oversellin (Score 2) 270

I have to say that while I agree that the marketing is devious, in practice my bandwidth has always been at least as good as the "up to" amount the companies have promised. I don't defend these companies in general, but the "up to" speeds & marketing is going to be a hard one to argue against if it's not currently a problem.

I think the lack of market competition is a much bigger problem than marketing techniques. Customers can't "vote with their dollars" because their only two realistic options are 1. internet or 2. no internet.

Comment Re:What would Justice look like? (Score 1) 150

It's not about me or what I support & don't support, it's about finding the best solution to problems. If people would get over this "you vs. me" mentality perhaps we could stop squabbling over these false dichotomies and actually come up with solutions.

So, yes, sometimes it's possible that an entity exists that is so big and important that losing it would harm far more people than its existence harms. Perhaps it *is* OK to keep that entity there, at least until some support is built around it so that the rest of the structure doesn't collapse when you finally do remove it. Recklessness is generally not a good answer to a complicated problem.

Comment What would Justice look like? (Score 1) 150

Justice in this case might look simple -- take a bunch of money from the companies and give it to the employees that would have earned it (and penalties, of course). The problem is, this affects a bunch of innocent bystanders. These are top stocks in this country. Lots of retirement funds are wrapped up in these stocks. If you penalize the companies the "rightful" amount, you will definitely harm their stocks, which means members of the police retirement fund in Maine (across the country) stand to lose their asses through no fault of their own.

It's easy to throw around ideas of vengeance & justice on these kinds of situations, but the world is a complicated place, and sometimes what appears obvious and "common sense" is actually the most harmful thing you can do.

Comment Re:Why I don't buy the misogyny argument (Score 1) 548

I don't blame misogyny for girls not getting into programming, because I don't think computer programming is necessarily characterized by social interaction.

I do. Look at the first post on this article for an example. For that matter, look at the first response to that post as well. Immediately, Slashdot readers (who we *used to* expect more from) objectified all of these women. Twice. Before anyone else could make a remotely educated comment.

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