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Comment Re:Sack him. (Score 1) 480

Age is an issue here, some brilliant people learn social skills late and social skills improvement isn't a magical overnight fix. Knowing the right answer and knowing the best way to present it to others don't always come at the same time. Of course, knowing who will always be a jerk and who needs time to learn the culture is part of good hiring. Programming a young socially challenged genius may well be easier than reprogramming an older genius who is still trying to work a culture that they are no longer a part of. The best indicator I know of is genuinely catching them being wrong and seeing how they respond. That is hard because they are, by definition here, brilliant. Fortunately it is easiest early when they know the least about the details of the new things they are working on. This means you can spot the fakers and keep them from becoming too integral if you pay attention.

Comment Re:Actually... (Score 4, Insightful) 513

You, like everyone else so far in this conversation, are making a false equivalence fallacy. The only thing this article points out is adoption rates by users when the software became available to the users. The only actual apples to apples comparison to android would require a by carrier and by device breakdown because that is how android users get updates. What was the adoption rate of Jelly Bean on the Galaxy Nexus on VZ the same amount of time after VZ started pushing it to users? I know my android phone was updated less than 8 hours after its most recent update became available to me. Considering most people just click ok on everything that pops up in front of them I imagine the adoption rate is high, since all it takes to update an android phone is to click ok on the notification and wait 5 minutes for it to do its thing and then reboot. My last iphone took longer to run its updates than my android phones have and it required far more user interaction and effort to get those updates started in the first place.

If I wanted polarized arguments with neither side bothering to think at all I'd go read about politics. It is a statistic, not grounds for a holy war. Why isn't anyone here talking about a technical solution to increase that adoption rate? That is what this real nerd was hoping to see here. I wonder what percentage of those are new devices that shipped with ios6? Did his math account for people with new devices being forced to re-download his app? This clearly doesn't show any indication of software upgrade rates on old hardware, but mathematically they must be lower than overall adoption rates since 100% of new iphones are on ios6.

Comment Router Station Pro (Score 1) 334

I have a Ubiquiti RouterStation Pro. I am using a discontinued card but would recommend the SR71-A for wireless. Netgate was my source for mainboard, minipci wireless card, enclosure, jumpers, and power supply. I already had my own 9dbi antennas to use. Running OpenWRT this setup has amazing range, tons of processing power and has NEVER caused any downtime for me since I built it over a year ago.
Security

Submission + - Mac, BSD prone to decade old attacks 7

BSDer writes: An Israeli security researcher published a paper few hours ago, detailing attacks against Mac, OpenBSD and other BSD-style operating systems. The attacks, says Amit Klein from Trusteer enable DNS cache poisoning, IP level traffic analysis, host detection, O/S fingerprinting and in some cases even TCP blind data injection. The irony is that OpenBSD boasted their protection mechanism against those exact attacks when a similar attack against the BIND DNS server was disclosed by the same researcher mid 2007. It seems now that OpenBSD may need to revisit their code and their statements. According to the researcher, another affected party, Apple, refused to commit to any fix timelines. It would be interesting to see their reaction now that this paper is public.
Power

Submission + - Team to transform carbon dioxide into liquid fuels (physorg.com)

An anonymous reader writes: Using concentrated solar energy to reverse combustion, a research team from Sandia National Laboratories is building a prototype device intended to chemically "reenergize" carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide using concentrated solar power. The carbon monoxide could then be used to make hydrogen or serve as a building block to synthesize a liquid combustible fuel, such as methanol or even gasoline, diesel and jet fuel.
Programming

Submission + - The Future of AJAX and the Rich Web Dscusssed (ajaxworldmagazine.com)

jg21 writes: This AJAXWorld Magazine article indicates how far AJAX has come since devs complained here that it sucked all the time. Eight experts were asked what questions we should now all be asking, with 2008 just around the corner, about where AJAX is headed next. The suggested questions are refreshingly hard-headed, including: "How are we to fix the web?" (Douglas Crockford, JSON inventor), "When will AJAX development finally be easy?" (Google's Christian Schalk), and "Do we really need JavaScript 2.0? Won't it be somewhat irrelevant by the time it becomes commonplace and thus usable?" (Josh Gertzen, lead developer of the ThinWire AJAX Framework). One of the most interesting questions came from Kevin Hakman, co-founder of TIBCO's General Interface: "On what timeline will AJAX skills become commoditized like HTML skills became?" With a question like that, one is reminded that AJAX has come a very long way in a very short time.
The Almighty Buck

Submission + - Apple the new Microsoft? (pcworld.com)

whoever57 writes: In an editorial in Computerworld, Mike Elgan argues that Apple has taken over Microsoft's position as the industry bully. He supports this conclusion on the market power that Apple exerts through the iPod/iTunes combination and the slow technical progress of iPods. He notes that iPods have only recently included features that MP3 players from other manufacturers have had for some time. He compares the bundling of iPods and iTunes to the bundling of Internet Explorer on Windows. However, he concludes by commenting that, in his opinion, Microsoft's reputation wasn't justified, just like Apple's reputation as an industry bully is not now justified.
Google

Submission + - Google revoking DRM permissions on bought videos! 1

DoofusOfDeath writes: A few months ago I purchased a great Discovery Channel video from Google's downloadable video service. Sure I can't media-shift it, but I was willing to trade away some fair-use rights so my kids could see the video. I paid cash, they give me the video. End of story, right?

Wrong. Today I got this email (see below). It just goes to show that with DRM, there's little limit to the evil that can be done to you:

Hello,

As a valued Google user, we're contacting you with some important information about the videos you've purchased or rented from Google Video. In an effort to improve all Google services, we will no longer offer the ability to buy or rent videos for download from Google Video, ending the DTO/DTR (download-to-own/rent) program. This change will be effective August 15, 2007.

To fully account for the video purchases you made before July 18, 2007, we are providing you with a Google Checkout bonus for $20. Your bonus expires in 60 days, and you can use it at the stores listed here: http://www.google.com/checkout/signupwelcome.html. The minimum purchase amount must be equal to or greater than your bonus amount, before shipping and tax.

After August 15, 2007, you will no longer be able to view your purchased or rented videos.

If you have further questions or requests, please do not hesitate to contact us. Thank you for your continued support.

Sincerely,

The Google Video Team

Google Inc.
1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
Mountain View, CA 94043
Editorial

Submission + - Open Letter to Anyone Asking Me For Computer Help (pretheory.com)

wastedbrains writes: "So you're having a problem with your computer, eh? Yes, you're right, I do know something about computers and yes, I was a computer science major. Will I fix your problem?

I'll certainly try. I'm more than happy to help you to the best of my ability. You're a friend and I'm glad I can help you. I know you'd do the same for me and in all likelihood, I'll be hitting you up for free financial/legal/medical/automotive advice in the near future. I happen to have an area of expertise and I genuinely don't mind helping you out.

That said, here's some friendly advice that will make this experience as painless as possible for both you and I"

Businesses

Submission + - Penalizing for Poor Health 2

theodp writes: "Perhaps laying the groundwork for Sicko II, Clarian Health announced that starting in 2009, it will fine employees $10 per paycheck if their body mass index is over 30. Even slim-and-trim employees have to worry about their cholesterol, blood pressure, and glucose levels — they'll be dinged $5 for each standard they don't meet. Smokers get a sneak preview of the policy starting next year, when they'll find $5 less in each check. Clarian credited new government HIPPAA rules that became effective July 1st for giving it the courage to follow its penalize-for-poor-health convictions."

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