Comment Re:Gluons not quarks (Score 1) 467
But what about the runon particle?
Comment Re:Piratenpartei got 2.0% in german elections (Score 1) 173
There are three other parties in Germany that share those aims you listed (free democrats, green party and left party).
And all but the left party (which didn't existed in that incarnation then) had pretty much forgotten about this. Remember wire taping (1996, FDP), "Otto Katalog I + II" (2001+2002, Grüne), just to name two examples? Of course, it might be coincidence that both of them discovered their civil rights roots about the same time the PIRATEN were formed. But, honestly, I doubt it.
Comment Re:This ad paid for by... (Score 2, Insightful) 512
You sound like a programmer who is completely ignorant of how legal systems work.
He sounds like a programmer who has seen how the legal system works.
Laws aren't written like "if photo.is_manipulated() then display_disclaimer() end".
Nope, you have that 100% true - Because that would give a nice, easy, objective test of guilt.
Instead, the law will describe 200 different varieties of manipulation, which the advertising industry will neatly get around ("Well, it didn't explicitly ban radioactive waste to give the subject a healthy glow"), while semi-pro photographers fear for their freedom if they dare to sell a decent shot to a local paper. It will include zero funding for enforcement but allow police to charge high-end cameras with a crime and thereby keep them. It will accidentally outlaw Gimp (but of course they'd never enforce that, wink-wink-nudge-nudge) but not Photoshop because of some obscure detail in their JPEG compression implementations. And finally, just for good measure, it will provide 50 billion dollars to build stronger levees in Nevada (or the French equivalent, I suppose).
And I wish I meant this as hyperbole...
He sounds like a programmer who has seen how the legal system works.
Laws aren't written like "if photo.is_manipulated() then display_disclaimer() end".
Nope, you have that 100% true - Because that would give a nice, easy, objective test of guilt.
Instead, the law will describe 200 different varieties of manipulation, which the advertising industry will neatly get around ("Well, it didn't explicitly ban radioactive waste to give the subject a healthy glow"), while semi-pro photographers fear for their freedom if they dare to sell a decent shot to a local paper. It will include zero funding for enforcement but allow police to charge high-end cameras with a crime and thereby keep them. It will accidentally outlaw Gimp (but of course they'd never enforce that, wink-wink-nudge-nudge) but not Photoshop because of some obscure detail in their JPEG compression implementations. And finally, just for good measure, it will provide 50 billion dollars to build stronger levees in Nevada (or the French equivalent, I suppose).
And I wish I meant this as hyperbole...
Comment Re:Ethics of photomanipulation (Score 1) 512
And if we're talking porn, the free hand is probably useful...
Comment Re:Porn and hamburgers (Score 3, Funny) 512
>>cheese that is actually plastic,
That portion of it, at least, needs to be done to adhere to truth-in-advertising laws. You can't photograph REAL CHEESE unless you use it.
Comment Re:sounds good (Score 1) 512
Wait... does this mean I can no longer stuff a sock in my shorts without wearing a t-shirt that states, "Disclaimer: the package below may have been artificially altered to appear larger than in real life"?
Comment Re:Somedays... (Score 1) 375
Not so new. Palm has been using that form factor for a long time.
Comment Re:Let's treat this (Score 4, Informative) 187
as if it were what it is: treason.
The Constitution defines treason. And this isn't it, much as you'd like it to be.
Comment MIT Project "Gaydar" Shakes Privacy Assumpitons (Score 2, Funny) 508
What's an Assumpiton?
Comment For April Fools... (Score 1) 4
I realized how much I want a Tauntaun Sleeping bag!
Comment Re:Say It Ain't So (Score 5, Informative) 408
So really you lose all rights to using that code?
You lose all rights to DISTRIBUTE that code. You can still use that code in perpetuity, though.
Comment Re:This is just awful. (Score 1) 659
If it's the same one others in this thread are referring to, no way it's OSX.. (MHO of course)
Evolving Rocks 172
SpaceAdmiral notes a new study making the claim that rocks have been evolving throughout Earth's history. "'Mineral evolution is obviously different from Darwinian evolution — minerals don't mutate, reproduce or compete like living organisms,' said Hazen in a statement announcing the study's findings. 'But we found both the variety and relative abundances of minerals have changed dramatically over more than 4.5 billion years of Earth's history. For at least 2.5 billion years, and possibly since the emergence of life, Earth's mineralogy has evolved in parallel with biology,' Hazen added. 'One implication of this finding is that remote observations of the mineralogy of other moons and planets may provide crucial evidence for biological influences beyond Earth.'"
The Stigma of a Tech Support Background 613
An anonymous reader writes "Since the last semester of college I've been working as a first line tech support agent. At first it was just a way to earn some extra money; then it became a way to scrape by until I could find myself a real job. By now (almost two years in), it's beginning to feel like a curse. The problem I'm having is that no matter how many jobs I apply for, and no matter how well-written my applications are, I can't seem to get further than the first interview. For some reason it seems a lot of employers will completely overlook my degree in computer engineering, the fact that I can show them several personal projects that I've worked on, and that I can show them that I clearly possess the skills they are looking for. I've had several employers tell me to my face, and in rejection letters, that my 'professional background' isn't what they're looking for even when they've clearly stated that they're looking for recent graduates. In fact, a few have even told me that they decided against hiring me simply because I've worked in tech support at a call center for the last two years. I'm wondering if others have experienced similar problems and if there are any good ways to get employers to realize that my experience from tech support is actually a good thing and not a sign of incompetence."
