Comment Re:Security is NOT an issue with The Cloud. (Score 0) 478
Maybe you spend too much time at the slashdot spigot.
Comment Re:Don't wait. (Score 1) 433
I love installing the most recent versions of any OS, but really don't like going through the incredible gyrations to re-install the 300-400 apps that I use. I run several W2K3 servers and multiple XP desktops. There isn't an upgrade path that I know of that will keep my current installed apps running smoothly.
Isn't this the real problem with MS Windows? There are so many hooks into the OS by the installed apps that once you decide to upgrade the OS most of the apps (Registry based) stop working. Of course, I have few problems with the open-source software that installs nicely in any folder you want - Windows upgrades be damned.
Comment Re:What about red herring? (Score 1) 287
Were goldfish adequately studied? I do believe a fish called Wanda would have been interested in these results.
Dead Salmon's "Brain Activity" Cautions fMRI Researchers 287
AthanasiusKircher sends in a Wired writeup on what should surely be a contender in the next Improbable Research competition: wiring a dead salmon into an fMRI machine and showing it pictures of humans designed to evoke various emotions. "When they got around to analyzing the voxel... data, the voxels representing the area where the salmon's tiny brain sat showed evidence of activity. In the fMRI scan, it looked like the dead salmon was actually thinking about the pictures it had been shown. ... The result is completely nuts — but that's actually exactly the point. [Neuroscientist Craig] Bennett... and his adviser, George Wolford, wrote up the work as a warning about the dangers of false positives in fMRI data. They wanted to call attention to ways the field could improve its statistical methods. ... Bennett notes: 'We could set our threshold [of significance] so high that we have no false positives, but we have no legitimate results.... We could also set it so low that we end up getting voxels in the fish's brain. It's the fine line that we walk.'" The research has been turned down by several publications, according to Wired, but a poster is available (PDF).
Comment 61 and learning / working new stuff (Score 1) 918
I have a deep resume work-wise (33 years) and a shallow one in the Ed. dept. (some college, no degree.) I've never had a problem finding work until the last 6 months but I expect this period of doldrums to end soon.
In the last 10 years, I've been involved in a lot of DB (installation/design/development - SQL Server, MySQL, Oracle), code (C++, Java, C#, VB.NET), and applications (Windows, Linux, web). My bookshelf and reference links are wonderful resources - as are SlashDot and other web sites.
When I grow tired of learning, then it's time to lay the body down. Going back to school for me would be solely for the ability to learn something new - something that I might not be able to absorb by myself.
Submission + - Shameful to disclose BOA, Merill bonuses?
lamebrane writes: As reported in Reuters http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSTRE5285IV20090309, some of the 'interested' parties aren't happy about having names of the mega-$$$ TARP bonuses bandied about in the media.
"It seems shameful to me that the government has such little understanding of the business reasons to justify why personnel issues should be kept confidential," said Gary Townsend, co-founder of money manager Hill-Townsend Capital in Chevy Chase, Maryland, who said he owns Bank of America preferred shares."
Hey, buddy. Get used to a bit of sunshine on your dealings. You talk about "shameful". Why don't you fully disclose your "business reasons". Are they related to kick-backs, UBS bank accounts, off-the-books payments to your friends and family? Gary Townsend, why don't you disclose your deal where you got preferred BOA shares? These are usually done with sweetheart arrangements.
Comment Re:mandriva (Score 1) 231
Of course, you are correct in your facts. I was just trying to point out the humor of those two central nations of Europe that have, historically, spent so much time spitting or shooting at one another, finally following each other's leads. Since I am just an american, I can't viscerally feel the love/hate that must underlie so many relations throughout the continent.
Now, if I can only get more of my U.S. clients to adopt open-source (not necessarily free) solutions. Bravo to the Bundestag. ..lb
