Want to read Slashdot from your mobile device? Point it at m.slashdot.org and keep reading!

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror

Comment Better safe than sorry (Score 1) 41

I think that after every 3rd wave of Missile Command (what a disgustingly irresponsible creation!!), the game should require that the player's parents check to make sure the player isn't getting depressed by the prospect of nuclear war.

And in Asteroids, after any ship destruction due to collision with an asteroid, the game should require parental attestation that the player isn't starting to develop symptoms of petraphobia.

In both cases, if the parents aren't available (e.g. dead because the player is in their 80s) I suppose a Notary Public or a AMA-certified doctor would be a good-enough replacement.

We have learned so much since the early days of computer games, and it's better to be safe than sorry. (But don't fuck with Joust! I want to be able to play without having to call my mom every time the Lava Troll touches my mount's legs inappropriately.)

Comment The Federal Reserve already docmented this (Score 1) 149

The Federal Reserve is only getting a response rate of approximately 42% when it sends out its surveyes. Since they only send out a little over one thousand surveys, trying to guesstimate policy for an entire country based on that response rate is effectively impossible.

First, their sample size is too small to begin with. They should sample at least three times the number they currently do. Second, who they sample also needs expanded. Getting a response from Corning is significantly different than getting a response from Billy Bob's Downhome Fried Chicken in Bumfook, Louisiana.

This lack of response, as this article relates, carries over into people getting surveys. Being asked 5-10 questions is far different than being given a booklet of 100 questions to answer. You need to make it easy for people to respond. Blind calling no longer works, as many on here have pointed out. Send people a letter with uniquely identifiable information they can use to complete a survey online. Since they won't be handing out their personal information it will make it easier for people to respond. Just use the code given and keep it down to a few questions.

Comment One small issue with USB-C (Score 1) 236

The one quibble I have with USB-C is the pin doesn't seat far enough into a device. It's one thing if the connection is vertical. The pin is sitting in the port. However, when plugged in sidewarys, that itsy bitsy pin now has to bear all the weight of the cable pulling it down.

To me, that seems like stress which doesn't need to be there.

Comment Re:.bin (Score 1) 29

I haven't read the text of this Swiss law, but if it's anything like USA's, UK's, or EU's laws, then it regulates "providers" and/or "carriers," not software applications themselves.

If you are sending already-made ciphertext through a regulated service, the service won't be in trouble. But if the service offers to encrypt for you, then they will be in trouble.

It just occurred to me that the now-common conflation between web apps and local apps (to a lot of phone users, these two things look the same) matters.

Comment Re:Why does it gotta be a white oak leaf? (Score 1) 78

Maybe ASF just likes whiskey.

White oak has more tyloses and a tighter grain structure than other oak varieties, which cause its barrels to be more waterproof. It chars better. And it generally wins most taste tests. It's just perfect for barrel aging.

Save your red oaks for furniture.

Comment Who pays the insurance for Amazon's trucks? (Score 1) 52

Is Amazon fitting the bill for higher insurance rates?

This question surprised me.

Before we tackle the unlikely possibility that this raises insurance rates, your question makes me realize there's another question you might want to try to answer first:

Who do you think currently pays for the insurance on Amazon's vehicles?

And another: do you think that by Amazon making the choice to deploy an additional piece of driver hardware, the insurance-premium-paying party in the above question, would change?

Comment WHy? (Score 1, Troll) 50

Why are they building a sea wall? What makes them think climate change is real?

If it's not real, as the governor keeps saying, then no sea wall is needed. If climate change is real, then everyone should get one.

You can't have it both ways. Unless you're being deliberately racist.

Comment Re:Goog Ad Revenue $270B in 2024 - cost of busines (Score 1) 11

Based on Google's last quarterly numbers, that fine is equal to about three days worth of revenue.

Google had $96.43 billion in revenue last quarter. Divide by 3 gets you $32.143 billion each month. Divide by 30 gets you $1.0714 billion each day. Times 3 comes out $3.2142 billion.

It can't even be called a fine.

Comment Re:Perhaps the issue is catagorization (Score 1, Interesting) 76

Funny, I don't eat at fast food any more, nor buy bags of chips to eat every week, or subsist on gallons of soda. And yet, I'm barely heavier than I was in high school (which was practically rail thin) and sit on my ass all day in the office.

It's almost as if what you just said isn't true.

Slashdot Top Deals

The trouble with being poor is that it takes up all your time.

Working...