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Comment Depends on the level of thinking (Score 1) 241

Maths can be very concrete (simple arithmetic) or very abstract (number theory, which is also called arithmetic).
Programming can be very concrete (assembly) or very abstract (pure functional)
Human language can be very concrete (dog training) or very abstract (philosophy)

Maths can be very lax (estimation) or very rigorous (formal proof)
Programming can be very lax (visual programming) or very rigorous (certified code)
Human language van be very lax (slang) or very rigorous (poetry)

Comment Re:I have a solution for the free apps. (Score 1) 139

hosts files are a common attack vector, this is why OSes tend to limit its use. It's also a bit limited as a way to block ads.

There are plenty of other ways : xposed modules such as minminguard / youtube adaway / unbelovedhosts, proxy servers, alternative dns, adblockplus for firefox mobile, pay for "pro" (no-ad) versions of apps, etc...

The two last points are very effective (especially the last one :p) and do not require root.

Comment Re:must be a black box! (Score 1) 285

But, of course, the ultimate test of machine intelligence is when the computer can sue your ass off and win in the Supreme Court.

Well, I expect computers to become really good at law.
The big idea with legal systems is to refer to some written laws and precedents rather than the whim of the judge. Basically it's a search problem and it's one of the things that computers do best.

Comment Re:Virus Writers.... (Score 1) 285

Writing small, tricky, code require a certain set of skills but I believe that the mark of great programmers is the ability to scale up. That means writing clean, efficient and flexible code even on large projects.
Demos for example may look impressive but due to their non-interactive nature, they can use plenty of tricks that won't work in more general cases.

Comment Re:Need doublethink training (Score 1) 376

I believe that the reasoning is :
- diversity is good
- finding minorities with the required skills is hard
- hiring under-skilled people just because they are minorities is bad
=> we need to give minorities the required skills

I think it is some kind of a long-term experiment, an attempt to increase diversity without compromising skills.

Comment Re:How effective can the spying be? (Score 1) 104

If you have a light aircraft you can pretty much bomb anyplace you want. Areas directly over sensitive facilities are usually prohibited zones, which means that if you penetrate them you may be "pulled over" by a fighter jet and face big trouble after you land. They won't shoot if they can avoid it.

Trouble is, these zones are usually pretty small compared to the speed of even a small plane. For example, if you have zone with a 10 NM radius and you are flying at 120 kts, it only takes 5 minutes to reach the center. During this time, they have to notice you, dispatch an interceptor airplane, intercept you, send you a few signals, notice that you don't intend to comply and finally shoot you.

Comment Re:Probably not (Score 3, Interesting) 198

When Google still owned Motorola they tried to make some quality designs that had a lot more polish than the typical Android phone.

I don't consider phones without user replaceable batteries "quality design". For real quality oriented design, the goal should be "as long as a network exists". And considering that batteries are expected to last for about 3 years, they make for an obvious planned obsolescence.
My old Nexus One is still in use today( although not my me and with a new battery) and there is no reason to dump it as it still works as well as it did when I bought it. The 2 or even 3 year smartphone is a pure fabrication. For normal (non-geek) people, keeping a smartphone for 5-10 years should be the norm.

Comment Re:Warriors, unite! (Score 1) 208

The idea of opportunity cost is valid, however saying that all pirates would have bought the game is wrong, and that's how they inflate their numbers.

If we somehow managed to make piracy impossible, would be pirates could simply not play the game.
- because they don't have the budget
- because it's not easily available
- because of restrictions (invasive DRM, internet connection, ...)
- because the competition is cheaper (Photoshop piracy probably hurt Paint Shop Pro more than Photoshop itself)

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